PKL: Tamil Thalaivas loses another home game

Tamil Thalaivas succumbed to its second successive defeat at home, losing 33-28 to Telugu Titans in a Zone B match.

Published : Oct 09, 2018 23:52 IST , Chennai

Tamil Thalaivas lost its second successive home game, by going down 33-28 to Telugu Titans.
Tamil Thalaivas lost its second successive home game, by going down 33-28 to Telugu Titans.
lightbox-info

Tamil Thalaivas lost its second successive home game, by going down 33-28 to Telugu Titans.

Tamil Thalaivas succumbed to its second successive defeat at home, losing 33-28 to Telugu Titans in a Zone B match at the Jawaharlal Nehru Indoor Stadium on Tuesday.

Rahul Chaudhari didn’t put up his best show but scored nine raid points amidst huge away support from the crowd.

Ajay Thakur from Tamil Thalaivas and Rahul Chaudhari from Telugu Titans raided regularly, ensuring the teams matched each other for most of the first half. Titans began to break away the moment Thakur was successfully tackled. Soon, Thalaivas was all out and Titans took a 17-11 lead into the second half.

Through the last season and Monday’s match, Thalaivas has shown its capacity to stage a late charge. But under pressure, trying to close the gap down, its players made costly mistakes, including the experienced ones.

Key highlights: Thalaivas successive loss to second tied game of the season

“These things happen. Right now there are some problems with co-ordination in the team and it’s natural in the first few games. But we’re confident we’ll rectify it and come back stringer,” said Tamil Thalaivas coach E. Bhaskaran.

Every point that looked like the start of a comeback found an equal reply from the Titans. The Telugu Titans unexpectedly found huge support from the local crowd, possibly due to Rahul Chaudhari. It managed to hold on to the lead and earn a win, despite some faint resistance from the Thalaivas.

Scores level, once more

The Pro Kabaddi League witnessed its second tied game after Dabang Delhi’s thrilling comeback in the final minutes settled the scores at 32-32 against Gujarat Fortunegiants in a zone A fixture.

Leading for most of it, the match was stolen from the hands of Fortunegiants after a determined show in the second half from Delhi.

Gujarat was superior in attack and defense in the first half. Coach Manpreet Singh had set up his defense well and newcomers Kalai Arasan and Rituraj Koravi didn’t show any nerves. Sachin and Rohit Gulia kept the points coming in through raids as well. 

The inexperience began to show in the second half when Delhi’s Ranjit Chandran raided a majority of his nine points from Fortunegiant’s corners. Even though it trailed, Delhi was never out of the game. And it narrowed that gap further as it meted out an all out on Gujarat in the 35th minute. With another tackle, the scores were brought level.

Naveen Kumar, who scored five points, was sent in for the final raid instead of Ranjit Chandran. Naveen stayed cautious forcing an empty raid and Delhi earned a tie, much to the shock of the Fortunegiants.

“We made mistakes during raids and there were faults in our corners as well in the second-half. Dabang Delhi is a very good team this time. This is not last year’s Delhi,” said Gujarat Fortunegaints coach Manpreet Singh.

Sign in to unlock all user benefits
  • Get notified on top games and events
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign up / manage to our newsletters with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early bird access to discounts & offers to our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide to our community guidelines for posting your comment