Bhopal, 31 October 2014 :: United Singhs suffered a big setback after being stunned by Vancouver Lions as the Wave World Kabaddi League made its first appearance in Bhopal on Friday. Vancouver Lions, who have had a modest start in Wave WKL, beat United Singhs at 63-59.
Vancouver Lions led by just a point after the first session but they seemed to have sewn up the match by the end of the third quarter. A late surge from United Singhs almost derailed the Vancouver victory march, but they held on to win by four points at 63-59.
Vancouver Lions joined Lahore Lions at 12 points, while United Singhs have 16 from 15 matches.
United Singhs won the toss and chose to raid first and Gagan Nagra gave them a good start. The first session witnessed few interesting moves by the Navpreet of United Singh with four raids, while for Vancouver Lions Amanvir was noticeable with 4 stops.
United Singh’s captain Sandeep Singh Sandhu who was wonderful in his previous match due to his powerful stops was seen struggling to earn points for his team. Vancouver Lions led 16 -15 at the end of the first session.
In the second quarter Vancouver Lions put in a hard performance, as stopper Amanvir Singh (3) was in great form. United Singh’s raiders Gagandeep Nagra (3) and Navpreet Kumar (4) tried hard to narrow the gap. But with a weak defense United Singh could not make headway. Vancouver Lions raider Gagandeep Sabrawa (6) showed great form with six successful wonderful raids and his team led 28-33.
The third quarter proved most important as it turned match in favour of Vancouver Lions. The session saw terrific performance by Vancouver Lions’ stopper, Amarvir Singh besides the collective efforts of United Singh raiders Lovepreet and Navpreet who made four and five successful raids.
The aggressive raid line of Vancouver Lions proved profitable for team with five and four raids of Sukhbir Singh Sarbrawa and Gagandeep Sarbrawa respectively. The quarter ended 51-41 in favour of Vancouver Lions.
The final quarter witnessed strong performance by both teams. United Singhs gave their best showing of the day as Sandeep Singh (4) earned excellent stop points for his team. But Vancouver Lions Raiders Sukhbir Singh (5) and Gagandeep Sabrawa (4) held on for their team to win 59-63.
Quarter-Wise result of Match 58 was as below:
| Results (Quarter by quarter) (Total points) | ||
| Quarters | United Singhs | Vancouver Lions |
| First Quarter | 15 | 16 |
| Second Quarter | 28 | 33 |
| Third Quarter | 41 | 51 |
| Fourth Quarter | 59 | 63 |
Team position after Match No. 58 is as below:
| Team | Played | Won | Lost | Draw | Points |
| Khalsa Warriors | 15 | 12 | 2 | 1 | 25 |
| California Eagles | 15 | 9 | 6 | 0 | 18 |
| United Singhs | 15 | 8 | 7 | 0 | 16 |
| Punjab Thunder | 14 | 7 | 6 | 1 | 15 |
| Lahore Lions | 12 | 6 | 6 | 0 | 12 |
| Vancouver Lions | 15 | 6 | 9 | 0 | 12 |
| Yo Yo Tigers | 13 | 4 | 8 | 1 | 9 |
| Royal Kings USA | 15 | 3 | 11 | 1 | 7 |
About Wave World Kabaddi League (Wave WKL):
The teams and the format:
Wave WKL has eight teams, which will play every other team three times for a total of 21 matches per team in the League. At the end of the League stage, the top four teams qualify for the semi-finals and the winners of the semis will play for the customised Wave World Kabaddi League Trophy and the cash prizes.
The eight teams are: Khalsa Warriors, California Eagles, United Singhs, Punjab Thunder, Lahore Lions, Vancouver Lions, Yo Yo Tigers and Royal Kings USA.
The Wave WKL was inaugurated in UK, where matches were held in London and Birmingham. The matches have since then been held in New Delhi and in various cities in Punjab. The Punjab cities, which have hosted the matches, are: Ludhiana, Bathinda, Jalandhar, Mohali and Amritsar.
The brand
Wave WKL aims to become the go-to brand when it comes to sports entertainment. Wave WKL as a brand embodies strength, power, agility and entertainment. The Wave WKL seeks to take an indigenous sport to the world and redefining it for the Indian audience.
It gives Kabaddi a ‘gladiatorial’ persona and seeks to carve a niche for itself in a manner similar to the well-established sports like Football, Hockey, WWE and Cricket. Wave WKL brand visual identity, tone and texture are global and aspirational.
The Commissioner of the Wave WKL is former India hockey captain, Pargat Singh, who has played for India at three Olympic Games and been the captain in two of them. The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Wave WKL is Raman Raheja, a Sports and Entertainment Management professional with more than two decades of experience in Sport and Entertainment industries.
Television partners
The Wave WKL matches are broadcast live on Sony Six, the official broadcasting partner for the league in India.
The aim of the organization is to build a dynamic and sustainable global sports league that grows World Kabaddi League as a Professional sport and engages fans and business associates with world class sports entertainment with better value, experience and service.
The organization is committed towards driving mileage for a holistic ecosystem where fans transcend nationalities and actively participate amongst themselves, their teams and the league partners, thus becoming a truly global audience. The society respects the rich tradition of Kabaddi and would simultaneously focus on making the sport contemporary.
The Wave WKL will take the sport to state of the art venues and provide the spectators and followers with better entertainment in a clean, secure and comfortable environment.
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