Royal Kings USA beat Vancouver Lions 62-54 in Wave World Kabaddi League
Royal Kings USA Vs. Vancouver Lions
– Man of the Match & Best Raider: Bhupinder Singh (17 raids, Royal Kings)
– Best Stopper: Iqbal Singh (5 stops, Royal Kings USA)
– Khalsa Warriors get Walkover from Lahore Lions in Match 63
Bhopal, November 2: Royal Kings USA scored only their fourth win in 17 matches as they beat the better fancied Vancouver Lions 62-54 in the first match on Sunday at the Aishbagh Stadium in Bhopal. That win brought Royal Kings to nine points in 17 matches, while Vancouver Lions are still at 12 from 16 matches.
The second match of the day, which was to feature Wave WKL leaders, Khalsa Warriors and Lahore Lions, but the latter have not turned up this weekend as a result of which Khalsa were awarded two points, pushing their tally to 29 points and they could add two more as they take on Punjab Thunder in the next match.
Meanwhile, Punjab Thunder agreed to step in and ensure a second match against Khalsa Warriors. The teams said they agreed to the match to make sure the fans in Bhopal were treated to another good match on Sunday.
The Lahore team claimed to have visa problems, but the Organisers clarified that as many as 22 Lahore Lions members have Visas and 14 of them have eligible Visas for Bhopal. But they still wanted their fixtures to be changed yet. According to the Wave WKL Management, frequent changes have been causing problems to other teams as a result of which they turned down the request and decided to give a walkover to California Eagles on Saturday and to Khalsa Warriors on Sunday.
Interestingly, even as the Lahore team did not come, one of the Pakistani players, Rana Alishan, who plays for Punjab Thunder, was here and will feature in the second match against Khalsa Warriors. In the first match of the third and final day of action in Wave WKL here in Bhopal, Vancouver Lions won the toss and chose to raid first.
While the early stage of the match saw Raiders holding sway, it was Royal Kings’ Iqbal Singh Thiara (3 stops) who tilted the session in his team’s favour after Raiders Gurlal Singh (3) and Tajinder Singh (4) converted their raids into points very well.
Vancouver Lions’ Raiders Saukhbir Singh Sabrawa and Ramandeep Singh scored 2 raids each for their team but their defense let them down. Royal Kings USA opened a handy 19-12 lead. In the second session Vancouver Lions did make a comeback of sorts with Vancouver winning the session and reduce the margin to points. For Royals, Raiders Gurlal Singh (3) and Tajinder Singh (4) were once again the mainstays.
The third session was even closer, but Royal Kings USA did not allow Vancouver Lions to close the gap any further. Gagandeep Sabrawa executed a fine escape Harkirat Singh of Royals and in another raid Amanvir Singh of Vancouver Lions stopped Gurlal Singh of Royals.
Royal Kings’ were well served by two successful raids from Bhupinder Singh and two successful stops scored by Yadwinder Singh. At the end of the third quarter Royal Kings USA kept their four-point lead at 46-42. In the last quarter Royal Kings dominated the show. Their lead stoppers Yadwinder Singh (2) and Iqbal Singh (1) earned valuable stop points in the session as Royal Kings USA coasted to a 62-54 win.
Add comment