Pro Kabaddi finalists to lock horns in Chennai today

Sukesh Hegde, Player, Gujarat Fortunegiants
We will lift the trophy this year...
How excited are you to play in Chennai?
We have reached the finals and our competitors have lost to us twice previously during the league stage matches, so we are quite confident that we have a strong chance to win the match today. We are extremely excited to play here, the last time we played here, we had fans cheering for us and I’m hoping it will be the same during the finals.
What are your expectations from Chennai fans?
During the league stage, we played two matches in Chennai and I am expecting 99% support for Gujarat Fortunegiants today.We are a very strong team, with youngsters and strong Kabaddi talent — this is sure to earn us a larger follower base in the city. We are excited to play in the city and are expecting strong audience support today.
How challenging are your opponent? They’re strong...
Patna Pirates have lost to us twice and we are confident that we will be victorious today. We have a strong strategy to tackle their raiders — especially Pardeep Narwal. Our defence is also very strong and we should win the match with a marginal lead of 10-12 points.
Tell us about your strengths and weaknesses
Our defence is strong, and we hope the Fazal Atrachali-and-Abozar Mighani partnership works. Then we have young players Parvesh Bhainswal and Sunil Kumar, left cover and right cover, who will do a great job in defending the raiders from the opponents. If I should call out a weakness, it might be our raiders — a slight hiccup for us, but having said that, I highly doubt if this will be a matter of concern.
Who will win?
I am 100% confident that we will lift the trophy this year; we are at the top of the leader board and have maintained our position throughout the league, we are confident that our players will perform to the best of their ability.
Pradeep Narwal, Captain, Patna Pirates
We hope our Chennai fans support us...
Excited about playing in Chennai?
We are happy to have reached the finals. The support we have received in Chennai has been great. The previous match we played here, almost everyone in the audience was supporting us. We look forward to the finals and hope our Chennai fans support us vocally.
Chennai is not your homeground. So what are your expectations from the Chennai fans?
During our Qualifier 2, we witnessed tremendous support from the audience and hope that today’s match will be just the same.
How strong are your opponents? Would it be challenging to face them today?
We’re a strong team, but they are equally strong. We are working on a strategy to tackle their strong defence as the team is known for their superlative defensive skills. Plus, we have very strong raiders in our team and we’re hoping to crack their defence code and take home the trophy.
Tell us about your team’s strengths and weaknesses...
Our strength is our raiding skills. We have been winning the past few matches due to this, and hope to continue this winning streak right through the finals.
Who do you think will win?
We are confident that we will play to the best of our abilities and take home the trophy. We have been performing well throughout the season and have beaten some strong teams during the league matches.