Premier Handball League: Maharashtra Ironmen, Delhi Panzers register first win

Maharashtra Ironmen and Delhi Panzers won their first-ever game in the Premier Handball League on Saturday to spice up the points table.

In the first game of the day, Maharashtra Ironmen thrashed Golden Eagles UP to hand them their second loss. The Punit Balan-owned team won the game 43-28 putting on a dominant display.

The fifth match in the inaugural season of the Premier Handball League saw Maharashtra Ironmen take on Golden Eagles Uttar Pradesh in a highly anticipated clash.

Maharashtra Ironmen started the game aggressively as they looked to take the lead in the game from the first whistle.

Unfortunately, Ranjeet Singh of the Ironmen got injured in the opening minutes of the game and had to be stretched off. The early injury however was not a deterrent for Maharashtra. Igor Chiseliov, Manjeet Kumar, and Jalal Kiani were in fine touch as they were combining well and scoring at will in the early exchanges of the game.

At the 15th-minute mark of the game, the scores read 11-6 in favor of Maharashtra as the Golden Eagles Uttar Pradesh were finding it hard to contain the free-scoring Ironmen.

Soon after the first half came to a close with the scores reading 17-12 in favour of Maharashtra Ironmen as a lackluster Golden Eagles side was finding it hard to find their cutting edge in attack.

In the second half, Chiseliov, Kiani, and Manjeet made sure their team carried their momentum from the first half into the second half. Ankit Kumar of the Ironmen also slowly grew into the game as he was supporting the likes of Manjeet and Kiani superbly.

The Golden Eagles looked shell-shocked due to the attacking proficiency of the Ironmen and were struggling to find a foothold in the game.

Igor Chiseliov was the top scorer for the Maharashtra Ironmen with 12 goals, while Sukhveer Singh Brar was the top scorer for the Golden Eagles Uttar Pradesh with 10 goals.

Maharashtra’s Jalal Kiani was adjudged to be the best player of the match for his excellent performance in the attack that saw him score 10 goals in the game.

In the second game of the day, Delhi Panzers despite a slow start to the game recorded a colossal victory against the Rajasthan Patriots to register their first win in the PHL.

Both the Patriots and Panzers had a slow start to the game as despite creating numerous chances both sets of players were struggling to find their finishing touch.

Rajasthan Patriots’ captain and goalkeeper Atul Kumar was in fine form as he made countless saves to not allow Delhi to establish a lead. Halfway through the first half the scores read 4-5 in favor of the Panzers.

However soon after the Panzers’ captain and talisman Deepak Ahlawat found his finishing touch and helped Delhi to slowly pull away from the Patriots. Jasmeet Singh and Bhupender Singh of the Panzers were backing their captain brilliantly also as the three together aided the Delhi Panzers to establish a lead as the first half ended 9-14 in their favor.

The Rajasthan Patriots came out for the second half determined to cut short the lead the Delhi Panzers held from the first half. The Patriot's star players Hardev Singh, Dmitry Kireev, and Arjun Lakra were slowly getting into their attacking groove.

The Patriots were passing the ball fluidly as Delhi were finding it hard to close down the gaps in their defense. Despite the Patriots resurgence, the Panzers found another gear in attack as they were able to score consistently.

Nitin Kumar Sharma of the Panzers was also playing his role as the penalty save specialist brilliantly as he saved three crucial penalties coming off the bench in the second half of the match which did not allow Rajasthan to find a way back into the game.

The Panzers starting goalkeeper Elmuratov Sardor proved to be pivotal for his team in this game as he made some exceptional saves throughout the game that made sure the Patriots were not able to mount a comeback.

Soon after the game ended 18-34 in favor of the Delhi Panzers, who recorded the biggest winning margin of the first season of the Premier Handball League so far.

For the Delhi Panzers, Bhupender Ghanghas was the top scorer for his team against the Patriots with 11 goals.