Birmingham: The Pakistan-based Lahore Lions continued to impress, staving off a stiff challenge from the Royal Kings USA in their second match of the ongoing World Kabaddi League on Saturday.
The Lions won 62-50 in the first match of the tournament's Birmingham leg, the second of the six international cities where the event is spread.
Imposing raider Shafiq Rehman Chisti was the top performer for the Lions for the second successive match, logging 19 points to pick up his second 'Man of the Match' award.
"They (the USA team) presented a very strong challenge and it was good to see such inexperienced opponents perform so well," said Chisti.
Chisti said some players of the Lahore team were not completely fit due to mild ailments going into the match.
"That's why the performance was not completely upto it. We tried to create some pressure to start with but they fought well. We managed to come through on the back of our experience," said Chisti.
It was a neck and neck affair for the better part with some animated exchanges between the rival players adding to the drama for the sparse crowd that turned up to catch the action at the LG Arena.
The rival players took to mocking each other in the first quarter itself and later resorted to some fisticuffs as well in the heat of the moment.
"These things happen. When the pressure is on, players tend to lose cool. It happens in all sports," said Chisti.
The World Kabaddi League rolled out in London last weekend amid Bollywood song and dance with top actor Akshay Kumar, who co-owns the Khalsa Warriors, performing at the opening ceremony. The league will travel to Delhi for its next leg.
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