Premier Handball League: Rajasthan Patriots aim to finish league stage with win to gain momentum for knockouts

Jaipur (Rajasthan) [India], June 22 : Rajasthan Patriots, competing in the first ever Premier Handball League (PHL) will aim to finish the league stage with a win to garner momentum for the knockouts when they face Maharashtra Ironmen on Friday, here at Sawai Mansingh Indoor Stadium, Jaipur.

With 12 points and six wins from nine games Patriots currently stand third in the league standings while Maharashtra Ironmen with 15 points in the same number of games are the current table toppers.

Patriots and Ironmen faced against each other in the inaugural match of the season where the former got the upper hand to win 28-27 with Mohit Ghanghas, Sahil Malik and Hardev Singh scoring six, five and four goals respectively. On the other hand, Jalal Kiani and Igor Chiseliov scored seven goals each for the Ironmen.

Naya Chandra Singh, Head Coach, Rajasthan Patriots, said ahead of the clash, "The team showed excellent character to come from behind and win against Gujarat. It is a good momentum for us going into the knockouts. We will not take the match against Ironmen casually as every match is important for us".

The Patriots will go into this match high on confidence as they defeated Ironmen in their last encounter. Ironmen's attackers will have their work cut out against Patriots custodian Atul Kumar, who has been in tremendous form. Amrinder Singh who joined the squad as a replacement to Sahil Malik had a dream debut and could be a possible threat to Maharashtra, besides Mohit Ghanghas, Hardev Singh and Dmitrii Kireev.

Table Toppers, Ironmen will also look to end their league campaign with a victory and will rely on their consistent performers, Igor Chiseliov, Sumit Ghanghas and Jalal Kiani. Even on some occasions, Manjeet Kumar's power-packed performances also have been crucial for Ironmen's performances.