PKL: Titans forces a last-minute tie

Bengal Warriors seemed to be coasting towards its third win when its most successful raider Jang Kun Lee gave it a 34-33 lead with less than a minute remaining. But Telugu Titans skipper Rahul Chaudhari saved his team with a last-minute point.

Telugu Titans skipper saved the day for his team, scoring a point at the last minute.

Telugu Titans captain Rahul Chaudhari produced an effective raid in the dying seconds to force a 34-34 tie against the home favourite Bengal Warriors in a Pro Kabaddi League (PKL) match here at the Netaji Indoor Stadium on Monday.

Bengal Warriors seemed to be coasting towards its third win when its most successful raider Jang Kun Lee gave it a 34-33 lead with less than a minute remaining. But when the host thought it had won the match with barely a few seconds left, Chaudhari went for the final raid and picked up the crucial point.

Egged on by a vociferous home crowd, Bengal Warriors launched a fine comeback after trailing the visitor 14-19 at the half time. The host tied the score 21-21 by the 27th minute riding on some fine raids by Lee, who was the pick of the Bengal attackers netting 11 points. The Bengal defence also came good with some effective tackles.

Titans began on a breezy note with Nilesh Salunke showing canny skills to repeatedly defeat an organised Bengal defence, marshalled by its captain Nilesh Shinde. Salunke fetched 10 points from his raids while Chaudhari and Sandeep Narwal held on towards the end to help Titans force the tie when Bengal had cleared a two-point lead (33-31) with less than two minutes remaining in the action.