Pune, Haryana Steelers' Meetu Sharma has been going great guns in the Pro Kabaddi League (PKL) Season 9, scoring 75 raid points in nine matches so far and fulfilling a long-cherished dream.
Playing in the PKL has always been a dream for the 20-year-old and his family was particularly thrilled to see him in action on TV when he made his debut in the last season,
"My family watches my matches on TV. They were very thrilled when they saw me play on TV for the first time. There are a lot of youngsters in my village (Naultha) in Haryana, who are budding kabaddi players at the moment as well. The people in my village are very happy to see one of their people playing in the Pro Kabaddi League."
The raider also spoke about how he developed a dream of playing in the PKL. "I come from a farming family in Haryana. I started playing kabaddi in my village when I was 12 years old. There are a lot of Pro Kabaddi League players who have emerged from our village, such as Vikas Jaglan and Naveen Sharma. First, we used to play the sport for fun in our village, but once we got to know about the Pro Kabaddi League, we developed an even bigger interest in the game. We started dreaming of playing in the PKL."
Apart from tackling defenders on the mat, Meetu is also a huge film buff, "I watch movies during my free time. I recently watched Brahmastra. My favourite male actor is Sunny Deol and my favourite female actor is Deepika Padukone."
The Gujarat Giants will be hoping to get back into winning ways when they take on the Bengal Warriors on Saturday, but they will face a strong challenge from captain Maninder Singh and all-rounder Deepak Hooda.
The Telugu Titans fought hard in their previous match against U Mumba but were on the wrong side of the result in the end. They will be looking to put up an improved performance against the Tamil Thalaivas, but their opponents have been in top form during the Pune leg.
The Haryana Steelers will be hoping to string a few victories together in their upcoming games, but the U.P. Yoddhas will put up a strong fight through their raiders Pardeep Narwal and Surender Gill.