Pro Kabaddi 8: Patna Pirates beat U Mumba 43-23 to go top; Telugu Titans stay winless after 22-40 loss to Gujarat Giants

Patna Pirates destroyed Fazel Atrachali's in-form U Mumba 43-23 to go top of the Pro Kabaddi League (PKL 8) points table on Tuesday while Gujarat Giants beat Telugu Titans in a one-sided encounter.

Published : Jan 11, 2022 22:44 IST

U Mumba captain and defender Fazel Atrachali tries to hold back the raid from Patna Pirates.

A well-balanced Patna Pirates team once again showed why they are favourites for a playoff spot by thrashing an in-form U Mumba side 43-23 in the Pro Kabaddi League here on Tuesday.

Patna dominated from the first minute with their defenders Neeraj Kumar and Mohammadreza Shadloui picking High 5s.

All their players contributed in a win that helped the Pirates move to the top of the points table ahead of Dabang Delhi K.C.

U Mumba went into the match without the services of the star raider Ajith Kumar. The lack of confidence in the raiding department affected the balance of the whole team.

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At the other end, Mumbai's corner defenders Fazel Atrachali and Rinku made uncanny errors. Patna inflicted their first ALL OUT in the 6th minute of the match as Monu Goyat and Sachin found mistakes in the Mumbai defence.

The Pirates opened a 7-point lead but continued putting pressure on Mumbai.

Ashish Sangwan produced a Super Tackle for Mumbai to give a glimmer of hope, but the lack of raiding options kept affecting the second season champions.

Sachin thought he got the Pirates their second ALL OUT in the last raid of the half, but Rinku dished out a stunning one-man Super Tackle to delay it. The first half ended 19-9 with the Pirates in the lead.

Patna got their second ALL OUT in the first minute after the restart with Neeraj Kumar securing a High 5. The three-time champions were clearly in no mood to slip up and continued to dominate in all departments.

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Patna started killing the time with slow raids while Iranian Mohammadreza Shadloui ensured their left corner remained safe.

Telugu Titans stay winless

A dominating second half performance from Gujarat Giants in a 40-22 win meant that Telugu Titans suffered yet another loss and their wait for first win of the season continued.

Rakesh S was the star of the night for the Giants as he scored a Super 10 (a total of 16 points) and kept troubling a helpless Titans defense.

He was ably supported  in the raiding department by Mahendra Rajput who picked up six points. In the defense, Gujarat Giants' Parvesh Bhainswal got a High Five.

In an otherwise disappointing team performance, Titans had one positive in Rajnish who gave an all-rounder's performance with 12 points.

With this win, Gujarat Giants climbed up to seventh spot with 20 points in eight games while Telugu Titans stay at the bottom with just 10 points.