As the league stage of the seventh season of vivo Pro Kabaddi comes to a close, fans are looking forward to more edge-of-your-seat action as the fight to win Season 9 heats up in the playoffs, know about the format of the 2022 PKL playoffs
We look at how this season’s playoffs will work and what fans can expect.
Since the zonal format has been thrown out, the playoffs now include the top six teams in the league based on their points. This has already made it harder than ever to qualify.
The top two teams will now go straight to the semi-finals. The other four teams will play in elimination games to see who goes to the semi-finals.
PKL 2022 Season 9 Playoffs Format, Match System Explained
What About The Pro Kabaddi Eliminator Round?
Eliminator 1 will see:
The team ranked 3rd play the team ranked 6th
While, Eliminator 2 witnesses:
The team ranked 4th play the team ranked 5th
After a day off, two of these teams will move on to the next round. They will play in the semi-finals against the two teams with the most points from the league stages. Any mistake here will also mean that the team is out right away, so no team can take it easy.
What About The Pro Kabaddi Semi-Final Round?
The first Semi-Final has:
The team ranked 1st battle the Winner of Eliminator 1
And the second Semi-Final will be between:
The team ranked 2nd and the Winner of Eliminator 2
The two finalists that advanced from the semi-finals will compete for the vivo Pro Kabaddi title.
Prior to the new system, the playoffs included Qualifiers, which provided the top two teams an unfair advantage by allowing them to reach the championship game even if they lost their first playoffs match.
Teams can no longer get a second chance at a mistake that cost them the championship the first time around. All the more reason for each minute of each match, and greater excitement for the week of panga, for the supporters.
There will be no doubt that this playoff race will be incredibly compelling, possibly the toughest one yet, with five matches packed into three days of action and little recovery time for kabaddi fans in between.