Hyderabad, Nov 17 (IANS): The Season 9 Playoffs and Final of Pro Kabaddi League (PKL) will be held at the Dome, NSCI SVP Stadium, Mumbai next month, the organisers of the league announced on Thursday.
The Eliminator 1 and Eliminator 2 will be hosted on December 13, while the semifinals will be organised on December 15. And the Grand Finale is set to be held on December 1.
The announcement was made during the launch conference for the Hyderabad leg of the Pro Kabaddi League (PKL) Season 9 on Thursday. After the completion of two high-octane legs at Bengaluru and Pune respectively, the 12 franchises will face off at the Gachibowli Indoor Stadium until December 10, 2022, to find a place in the playoffs.
Speaking about the venue announcement of the PKL Season 9 Playoffs and Final, Anupam Goswami, Head of Sports Leagues, Mashal Sports, and League Commissioner, Pro Kabaddi League said, "Mumbai has always been a sport-loving city and especially a kabaddi-loving city. And therefore, we are very excited to organise the Pro Kabaddi League Season 9 Playoffs and Final in the City of Dreams.
"Of course, before the Playoffs and the Final, our prime focus will be to entertain the fans in Hyderabad. I look forward to kabaddi lovers in Hyderabad to make the most of watching their favourite stars in the stadium after a gap of three years," Goswami said.
The Telugu Titans' head coach Venkatesh Goud said that the crowd in Hyderabad will spur the team on to put up good performances in the third leg of the PKL Season 9, "We are very excited to play in front of our home fans in Hyderabad. The fans will certainly spur us on to put up great performances and we can't wait to entertain them in the stadium. Hopefully, we'll strike form in our home city."
The match between Puneri Paltan and Haryana Steelers will be a cracker of a contest as both sides registered victories in their previous games. While raider Aslam Inamdar will lead the charge for the Pune side, the Steelers will bank on raider Manjeet.
The Telugu Titans will be eager to impress their home crowd, however, they will face a strong challenge from Bengal Warriors raiders Maninder Singh and Shrikant Jadhav.
The Bengaluru side will be looking to continue its stupendous form, but Gujarat Giants' raiders Rakesh and Chandran Ranjit will pose a stiff challenge to the Bulls on Friday.