Pro Kabaddi League: U Mumba favourites against Patna Pirates in semi-finals

Last year's losing finalists U Mumba would look to use all the aces against giant-killers Patna Pirates when the two teams clash in the second semi-final of the Star Sports Pro Kabaddi League here tomorrow.

In another semi-final, Telugu Titans, who finished second in the league table behind U Mumba, will cross swords with Bengaluru Bulls, who seem to hold a slight edge, having won both their league clashes against their Hyderabad rivals.

U Mumba, who lost just two games in the league phase of the tournament, have a well-balanced outfit spearheaded by their best player and captain Anup Kumar. Kumar has said at a pre-match press conference that the team would be disappointed if it fails to clinch the title in second edition of the league.

"Patna Pirates is a good team with a number of young players. It will be a tough game. We have a good team and we will try our best to win the trophy. I will be very disappointed if we don't go on to clinch the title," said the India international and Incheon Asian Games gold medallist. Kumar said defence has emerged a key factor in this edition of Pro Kabaddi League.

"All the teams are tightening their defence," said Kumar, who has collected 2400 points in the league stage, including 219 raid points and 21 while defending.

Pirates have done very well in the tournament so far, especially when they knocked out defending champions Jaipur Pink Panthers yesterday to reach the last four stage. Pirates' captain Sandeep Narwal promised their defence would hold up and tame the high-flying Mumbai side.

"We are determined to do well in defence. Tomorrow we will be defending with all our might against Mumbai and I would also concentrate a lot on defence," said Narwal, who was made captain after India captain Rakesh Kumar picked up an injury early on and could not continue.

Pirates, who finished fourth in the league with seven wins and six losses for a grand tally of 41 points, would also be missing Ravi Dalal, who, too, is on the injured list.

Bengaluru have got the better of Telugu Titans twice this season, but the latter's Iranian captain Meraj Sheykh is confident of turning the tables in the knock-out round.

"We have good defenders and raiders. We expect to defend better tomorrow. We have a specific technique (that will be on view) tomorrow, but it's a secret and I cannot reveal it," said Sheykh, talking through an interpreter.

"We lost the last two times we played against them but tomorrow is a new game and there will a new technique on display," said the Iranian all-rounder, who has caught the eye while attacking as well as defending. The Titans, who missed qualifying narrowly last season, have had a very good outing so far, barring their contests against their Bengaluru rivals, to accumulate 50 points in the league table.

They have a fine raider in Rahul Chaudhary, who is leading the charts with 79 raid points. He has been well-supported by Sukesh Hegde (62 point) in the attack. Bengaluru, third in the table with 48 points, are also confident of their chances in the play-offs.

Quality all-rounder and captain Manjeet Chillar (50 raid points and 32 tackle points) sounded optimistic ahead of the game. "Ajay Thakur (68 points) has raided very well. We had rested him in the last two games and he's all geared up for tomorrow," said Chillar.

"It will be a good contest against the Titans tomorrow. It's a pressure game and both sides will feel it," he added.

The winners of the two semi-finals will then fight for the top prize of Rs one crore in the final on Sunday with the losing finalists receiving Rs 50 lakh. The losing semi-finalists will fight for third place, before the final on Sunday. The winner of this encounter will be richer by Rs 30 lakh, while the losers would get Rs 20 lakh.