Picture Credit: PKL
The second part of the ongoing season of the Pro Kabaddi League will get underway on January 20. The same was confirmed by the tournament organisers Marshal Sports on Monday. The second half of the competition, comprising of 33 matches, will continue till February 4.
While the Tamil Thalaivas will go head to head against the Gujarat Lions in the first game of the second part of the season on Thursday, it is the Bengaluru Bulls versus the Patna Pirates lined up later that evening.
Furthermore, the rivalry week of the competition is set to be staged between January 31 and February 4.
"The upcoming 33 matches, including the rivalry week, will be followed by the penultimate round of further 33 matches that will complete the full 132-match round-robin stage. This will be followed by the play-off round and thereafter the Season 8s grand finale," the official media statement read.
So far the Pro Kabaddi League has successfully hosted 66 matches in the first half of the season amid precautions taken in consideration of COVID-19. The league even had to get rid of its traditional caravan format and the complete tournament is happening in Bengaluru.
Bengaluru Bulls and Patna Pirates the table-toppers at this stage
After the action witnessed so far, Bengaluru Bulls and Patna Pirates occupy the first and the second position in the points table respectively. While both have 39 points, Bengaluru Bulls have played 11 games in contrast to Patna's 10. In addition, Bengaluru (51) have a better points difference than Patna (47) which means that it is the Karnataka-based club that is edging out Patna.
Telugu Titans, meanwhile, are sitting at the bottom of the points table as of now, having not been able to get going. They have 12 points from 10 games and remain the only winless team in the competition, having lost 8 matches and drawn two. Their points difference too has taken a hammering and stands at -40. Telugu would want to start afresh in the second half and build on the positives and learnings from the first half to put up a better show in the remainder of the competition.