Merry Christmas and welcome to Sportstar's live blog of the Pro Kabaddi League. This is
Lavanya Lakshminarayanan and I will be taking you through the action on Saturday.
We have one more match for the day - Jaipur Pink Panthers takes on Haryana Steelers.
Follow this game LIVE:
Full time | Puneri Paltan was the better team in this match and has reaped the rewards for the efforts put in. They scrape through by a single point [34-33]. Loads of takeaways for the side but our first focus would be to see if Siddharth Desai's injury is serious. He was seen holding his shoulder in pain. We have to wait for details to emerge. Aslam Inamdar continues to impress for Pune and Mohit Goyal too stole the shown falling a point short of a deserved super 10. On the other hand, Rohit Kumar was abysmal for Telugu Titans and seemed to be serving a leadership/help Siddharth stay calm role for the side. Pune will take the positives from this game as they go ahead.
34-33
Rakesh Gowda feels he's got the bonus point, referees don't think they have the bonus. Let's wait and see the reply. A point will help Titans tie the game. No point will give Pune the win.
NO BONUS. PUNE WINS! WHAT A WIN for Anup Kumar's men!
34-33
Mohit Goyal is swift as he runs in, gets Ankit Beniwal who lunges towards him, and comes off. One point away from a Super 10 is Mohit Goyal.
33-33
Siddharth Desai is brought down on the right corner and it has exhausted Aslam Inamdar as he gestures for water. Siddharth got his back turned to the corner and Pune embraced him, pulling him off to their side.
32-33
Aslam Inamdar's feisty raids get him some more success. Gets a point as he runs through the lobby.
31-33
Titans effect an all-out. Surinder gets a thigh hold. Mohit Goyal has no chance here and it ends for Pune. Any result possible and my fingers are hurting jabbing away at the keyboard.
30-30 The point levelling continues.
Sanket Sawant could have stayed away but he goes for Siddharth's ankles and he drags him akong.
30-29 Sublime from Mohit Goyal.
He gets a bonus, he gets a touch point. Nicely done. Blip here from the Titans.
28-29
Siddharth gets a kick on Vishal, Pune down to one man.
28-28
C. Arun tosses the Puneri Paltan raider off and he goes sideways into the arms of the rest of the defence. Nothing separates the two sides now.
Anup Kumar says - wait for them to come to you. Solid life advice this! He tells Aslam Inamdar to focus on the bonus points.
Anup Kumar has brought on Baldev as Pune is reduced to three men on the mat and forces Siddharth Desai to walk away with an empty raid.
28-27
Ankit Beniwal's running hand touch gets Titans a point and Siddharth Desai back on the mat.
28-26
Mohit Goyal gets a point, sends Surinder off. Handles the do-or-die raid with ease.
27-26
SUPER TACKLE TO PUNERI PALTAN! They;ve contained Siddharth Desai. Brilliant job by the Pune defense
Making teams dance to his tunes is not the only thing Siddharth Desai does. He is quite the musician too. We got a glimpse of his singing talents when we met him in 2019. Watch here.
25-26
Lead now to the Titans, as Pankaj Mohite is tackled in the left corner. Pune needs to regroup and NOW!
25-25 ANOTHER SUPER RAID FOR SIDDHARTH BAAHUBALI DESAI.
Gets a point off a kick and then lunges with the two defenders who get on his back with him.
25-22
Mohit Goyal can't repeat his heroics. An angry titans defence first gets a thigh hold and then handles his hand reaching out to deny him a chance to get it across the line.
25-21
Rohit Kumar has been pushed off the court. Very sluggish from him, ther's no attempt here to put up a fight at all. Why is he still on the mat for the Titans?
24-21
Pune tackles Siddharth Desai to the mat to get another point here.
23-21
Mohit Goyal has pulled off something special here! He has a
FIVE POINT RAID here AS he drags the Titans defense with him.
WOW!
18-21 ASLAM INAMDAR
is proving to be a great defender here as he sends off Siddharth Desai from the side of the mat. Errors creeping in for the Telugu Titans. Pune needs to keep a calm head now.
17-21 Gifts for Puneri Paltan.
Pankaj Mohite gets a touch off Sandeep Kandola. Can you believe it?
16-21
Bonus point for the Telugu Titans
16-20
Pankaj Mohite gets Rohit Kumar. Blessing in disguise for the Titans?
15-20
Ankit Beniwal is tackled down as we begin work in the second half. Good work, Pune.
HALF TIME: Telugu Titans lead Puneri Paltan 20-14 - A SIX POINT LEAD after trailing at the start.
The Titans got off to a shaky start after unsuccessful raids for Rohit Kumar and Siddharth Desai but two massive raids for the big man brought Telugu Titans roaring back into this game. Puneri Paltan have a number of defensive blips to review but more on this after we see how the second half goes. Rahul Chaudhari and Pankaj Mohite have struggled to get going. No Nitin Tomar. Aslam Inamdar is flying the raiding flag for Pune but will it be enough? Let's find out.
This is what Siddharth Desai is capable of.
If I was a Pune player, I would stay a safe distance away from Anup Kumar right now. He's glaring down at the mat now.
14-20 Siddharth Desai gets A SUPER RAID.
Back to back big raids for the Telugu Titans. Gets a kick and two defenders slides down under him and goes along with him. Three big points. Obviously, we will see a review. The bigger loss for Pune is that Aslam Inamdar, their brightest raiding prospect is one of the players who will now go warm the bench. Siddharth Desai is safe, says the review.
PUNE exhausts its reviews.
14-17 And that's what's happening now. Referee revives a Pune player.
But Pankaj Mohite is tackled out and it's an all-out nevertheless.
How can it be an all-out as Siddharth Desai went out too, so doesn't that mean a Puneri Paltan player comes in? How is it an all-out?
13-14
We're back and have clearly missed a few points and we're back on time to see a
brilliant tackle from Pune to send out Siddharth Desai but the defender has stepped out YET AGAIN. What is happening to Pune's back line?
POINT TO THE TITANS! Telugu Titans are claiming that three defenders are out of bounds. These are easy points if verified. We can see Sanket Sawant's feet going out of bounds. Okay. A mad decision is coming up here. Siddharth Desai has effected an all-out - FOUR RAIDERS GO WITH SIDDHARTH DESAI out of bounds.
It's a SIX POINT loot for the Titans - Four points plus two points for the all-out.
OOPS. Our screens just went blank for a bit. It's all happening here in the ProKabaddi League. Give us a few minutes to sort out the tech here.
8-9
Rohit comes. Rohit is tackled. Rohit goes. (Yawn) OH WAIT. Rohit lives. Vishal Bharadwaj has made an error here. He steps out of the end line and gifts Telugu Titans a point
8-8 Well done, Surinder Singh.
He's shot into Pankaj Mohite and blocks him from the front, giving the others some time to crowd around and finish the tackle.
8-7
Presence of mind from Siddharth Desai here as he reaches out to cancel the right corner defender. Sombir caught off guard here.
8-6
Another unsuccessful raid from Rohit Kumar. What is the strategy of having him in this side? I don't understand. Do you? Tweet to us on @Sportstarweb and tell us your thoughts.
7-6
Running hand touch here for Aslam Inamdar. Third raid point from four raids.
6-6
Rahul Chaudhari is lifted and thumped down on the mat by none other than Siddharth Desai. Plucked out of thin air here. Feisty! Rahul has taken a bonus point though
5-5
Rohit is gifting points here today to Pune. Sombir takes him out
4-5
Siddharth Desai picks out Pankaj Mohite. Hitting Pune where it will hurt.
Okay, it's been a moderately chaotic first few minutes and we're going breathless keeping up. But one trend we're seeing from Pune - level-headedness. No advanced tackles, no haste.
3-4
Abinesh tries out a solo attempt on Siddharth Desai and the latter is happy to lovingly carry him out of the line.
3-2
Siddharth Desai takes a point for his side, his first point of the night
3-1
Pankaj Mohite has a point for his team
2-1
Siddharth Desai comes. Siddharth Desai is seemingly sent back to the bench, but referee gives the point to the Titans and sends Sombir to the bench. HUH?
2-0
Aslam Inamdar thinks he's got a touch point and hastily asks for a review. Vishal Bharadwaj did not have a say. Anup Kumar is asking why that review has been taking but Aslam is dead sure
AND THE REVIEW IS SUCCESSFUL. ASLAM INAMDAR! WELL DONE.
1-0
Rohit Kumar begins for Telugu Titans and is tackled right away. Vishal Bharadwaj knocks him out. Right cover comes to dash him out after the left gets an ankle hold.
0-0
We begin with an empty raid from Rahul Chaudhari.
8:35 AND WE BEGIN.
BIG NEWS coming from the Puneri Paltan camp: NITIN TOMAR is carrying a niggle. Injuries plaguing the experienced raider once more. Not good signs for him or Pune.
LINEUPS:
Telugu Titans: Siddharth Desai, Surinder Singh, C Arun, Ankit Beniwl, Rohit Kumar, Ruturaj Koravi, Sandeep Kandola
Puneri Paltan: Rahul Chaudhari, Abinesh Nadarajan, Sanket Sawant, Pankaj Mohite, Aslam Inamdar, Sombir, Vishal Bharadwaj
LIVE ACTION from this game begins in a few minutes. Stay with us.
8:30pm : Patna Pirates, after bringing the game to the final second, made an elementary error in conceding the bonus point, therefore gifting UP Yoddha the win. Very similar to the draw Telugu Titans were able to wrangle out against the Tamil Thalaivas. Scroll down for the match report of that game.
8:15pm: Puneri Paltan's loss to Dabang Delhi was a mixed bag of performances - with a fully fit Nitin Tomar taking the lead in raiding responsibilities for his side. Pankaj Mohite is quick on his feet and managed a few points but was largely inaffective. Pune's defence could do nothing to Naveen and Vijay and will hope to be better against a Telugu Titans unit ft someone as trigger happy as Siddharth Desai. The advantage for Puneri Paltan is that Siddharth does not have an able raiding deputy, but the team has learnt to survive without Siddharth, taking the game against Tamil Thalaivas right till the end with a 40-40 draw. An exciting game awaits us.
8.10pm: An engaging contest is on in the Pirates vs Yoddhas game where a former Pirate, Pardeep Narwal, is giving his former side a hard time in an evenly balanced contest. Another such encounter awaits us here with Rahul Chaudhari going up against his former side - Telugu Titans. Can he get back to his old form in this game? Or will Siddharth Baahubali Desai bulldoze his way through the Paltan?
Meanwhile, you can also check out our Kings of Kabaddi series from PKL 7 - a happier time pre-COVID when we got to physically sit down with some of the biggest names in the league and hear their stories. You can check out all episodes here:
Hey folks, welcome to another day of Pro Kabaddi League action! It's day 4 of action in Bengaluru and we have three more interesting fixtures to dive into today.
Before we introduce you to the fixtures of the day, here's a look at the results from day 1 and 2.
Comments
SHARE