Pro Kabaddi League: Scenarios for the PKL Playoffs
The Pro Kabaddi League 2022 is about to pull the curtain on the playoff stages, and there are 18 games left until the season ends - the league is built around a playoff format for the semi-finals and finals, with 12 teams battling for the top six spots in the points table.
Pro Kabaddi League: Playoff scenarios.The top two teams directly enter the semi-finals, and the teams ranked from third to sixth face each other in the eliminator. The last two teams standing advance to the semi-finals as well.
Now let's look at the qualified teams and qualification scenarios for the remaining teams!
Qualified Teams
Jaipur Pink Panthers
Jaipur Pink Panthers snapped up a 44-30 victory over Haryana Steelers on Monday and confirmed their spot in the semi-finals. They are at the top of the rankings with 79 points, and 15 wins out of 21 matches.
Puneri Paltan
Puneri Paltan was the first team to advance to the playoffs after a 44-30 win over Patna Pirates. The Fazel Atrachali-led team has a balanced squad working well with one another. They are in the second position with 14 wins out of 21 matches and have entered the semis.
Bengaluru Bulls
The Bengaluru Bulls landed a third-place finish in the PKL 9 standings after a glorious win against the Patna Pirates.
U.P. Yoddha
The Yoddhas finished fourth with 66 points.
Tamil Thalaivas
Tamil Thalaivas registered a 43-28 win against UP Yoddha in their penultimate game of the league round and cruised into the playoffs. They have 66 points on their account, equal to fourth-ranked Yoddhas.
UP Yoddha will face Tamil Thalaivas in Eliminator 2, and Bengaluru Bulls will encounter the sixth-placed team in Eliminator 1.
Teams in contention
Dabang Delhi, Bengal Warriors, Haryana Steelers, Gujarat Giants
Eliminated
Telugu Titans, Patna Pirates, U Mumba
How can the teams in contention qualify for the PKL 9 playoffs?
Now that the sixth spot is still up for grabs let us look at the remaining teams and see how they can pull through!
Dabang Delhi
Defending champions Dabang Delhi now have 60 points in their tally, and they can finish with 65 points at best. They can win the next game and advance to the playoffs.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">𝙔𝙚𝙝 𝙨𝙖𝙧𝙧𝙖𝙩𝙞 𝙨𝙖𝙧𝙧𝙖𝙩𝙞 𝙧𝙖𝙛𝙩𝙖𝙖𝙧𝙚𝙞𝙣 𝙝𝙖𝙞𝙣<br>𝘼𝙖𝙜𝙚 𝙗𝙖𝙨 𝙥𝙡𝙖𝙮𝙤𝙛𝙛𝙨 𝙝𝙖𝙞 𝙥𝙚𝙚𝙘𝙝𝙚 𝙝𝙖𝙬𝙖𝙮𝙚𝙞𝙣 𝙝𝙖𝙞𝙣🤩<br><br>The Naveen Express with the Dabang passengers is all set to leave for Mumbai 🔥 <a href="https://t.co/IWUforRLP9">pic.twitter.com/IWUforRLP9</a></p>— ProKabaddi (@ProKabaddi) <a href="https://twitter.com/ProKabaddi/status/1600869062866718720?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 8, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Even if they tie, they will cut. If they lose, they will need Gujarat Giants, Haryana Steelers, and Bengal Warriors to lose one of their matches.
Gujarat Giants
Seventh-ranked Gujarat Giants have 56 points in their tally. To cruise into the next round, they must beat table-toppers Jaipur Pink Panthers and hope for Dabang Delhi to lose against Bengal Warriors by more than seven points.
Haryana Steelers
Haryana Steelers have slim chances and are yet to play two games against Telugu Titans and Tamil Thalaivas. They can keep their hopes alive by winning both games with ample margins. In addition, Dabang Delhi and Gujarat Giants need to lose their matches.
Bengal Warriors
Bengal Warriors are up against Dabang Delhi and Patna Pirates next. The Warriors need to win both games besides hoping for Gujarat Giants and Haryana Steelers' defeat.