Welcome to Sportstar's coverage of the Pro Kabaddi League. This is Nihit Sachdeva and I will be taking you through today's PKL 8 match between Tamil Thalaivas and Gujarat Giants.
That brings us to the end of our Pro Kabaddi League coverage for the day. We will be back tomorrow. See you then!
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:
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Summary: In the final match of the evening, Gujarat Giants overcame a tough challenge posed by Tamil Thalaivas to win 43-33 and stay in contention for the play-offs. Manpreet Singh's side started the must-win encounter slowly as the Thalaivas quickly took a 3-0 lead. Giants won the next three point to level the score and used the momentum to inflict an All Out soon. Thalaivas regrouped and played better to trail Giants by just three points as the score read 13-16 at half time. Second half was much more action packed. Thalaivas came out all guns blazing to inflict an All Out and move ahead at 19-17 but the lead did not stay for long as soon, Giants inflicted another All Out. From there on, the Giants maintained a healthy lead and eventually stretched it beyond Thalaivas' reach to seal five crucial points needed to stay in the race for the play-off spot. Giants skipper Sunil Kumar and Parvesh Bhainswal both scored High 5s while Mahendra Rajput led the raiding department with a Super 10.
33-43: Final raid of the match and Maninder Singh picks up a touch point off Sagar Rathee to seal a 10-point win for the Giants.
33-42: HIGH 5 FOR PARVESH as he puts in the ankle hold to bring down Himanshu.
31-41: Substitute raider Maninder Singh goes in and gets tackled by Thalaivas skipper Sagar Rathee who picks up his fourth tackle point of the night.
29-39: ALL OUT!!! Lone Thalaivas player on the mat surrenders in front of Pardeep.
29-36: HIGH 5 FOR SUNIL KUMAR!!! The Giants skipper takes down Bhavani Rajput to reach the milestone and what a time to put in a performance like this.
28-35: Manjeet gets lured into the ankle hold and Pardeep makes in to mid-line.
27-34: SUPER 10 FOR MAHENDRA RAJPUT!!! Multi-point raid for the tall man as he takes touch points of Himanshu and Sagar Rathee.
27-32: Do-or-die raid for Thalaivas and Bhavani Rajput picks up a bonus.
Final strategic time out. Five minutes to go.
26-31: Pardeep Kumar goes in for the raid and steps into the lobbies before coming back as Abishek tries to block him. Self out for Pardeep.
25-31: Aashish puts in the dash to push Mahendra Rajput off the mat but Mahendra's backtracking helps him in reaching the mid-line.
25-30: Himanshu goes in for the raid, Parvesh goes for the block a little too quickly and Himanshu gets his foot across the mid-line.
24-30: Not for long though as Abishek comes up with a tremendous block to stop Pardeep Kumar.
23-30: Double thigh hold on a flying Manjeet by Hadi Oshtorak puts Giants in a somehwat comfortable position.
23-29: Sunil with a brilliant block takes down Himanshu Singh. Leading from the front!
First strategic time out. Ten minutes to go and the Giants have a five-point lead in this crucial match.
23-28: Successful raid for Pardeep as he sends Sagar Rathee to the bench.
23-27: ALL OUT!!! Not this time, Manjeet. He picked up a bonus but Sunil Kumar initiated the tackle and the others joined in on time. Redemption.
22-24: Thalaivas down to one again as Abishek goes for the ankle hold on Pardeep and fails.
22-23: Manjeet avoids the All Out with another flying hand touch and this time he gets it off Sunil.
21-23: Pardeep Kumar picks a touch point with a kick on Sagar Krishna.
21-22: Manjeet picks up a bonus.
20-22: Mahendra Rajput goes in with three TT players on the mat and reduces them to two as Sagar Rathee tries a block way too close to the mid-line.
20-21: Do-or-die raid for Thalaivas, Himanshu goes in and despite being too advanced, Parvesh goes for the block and gets the support in time to bring the raider down. This is what the Giants need!
20-20: Parity restored. Substitute raider Pardeep Kumar gets an excellent toe touch on Himanshu Singh.
20-19: Ajay Kumar goes in for the raid and the chain of Abishek and Aashish pushes him off the mat. However, in the process, both Thalaivas defenders too went off the mat and that gifts two points to Giants despite an unsuccessful raid. Thalaivas have lost their review challenging the decision.
19-17: Running hand touch on Santhapanaselvam and Ajay Kumar reduces the deficit to two.
19-16: ALL OUT!!! Himanshu wipes off Parvesh and Girish both in the same raid to put Thalaivas ahead.
15-16: Giants down to two now as the Thalaiavas bring down a flying HS Rakesh.
14-16: Himanshu goes for the first raid of the second half and takes a touch off Hadi on the right corner with a back kick.
Giants coach Manpreet Singh has instructed Mahendra and Ajay to be more aggressive during their raids.
Twenty minutes to go and considering this is a must win game for them, the Giants need to do better as a three-point lead is not enough.
HALF-TIME: Tamil Thalaivas 13-16 Gujarat Giants
13-16: Final raid of the first half and the men in blue continue the good work in defence as they drag Mahendra Rajput back.
12-16: Sunil goes way too quick for the block on Manjeet and the Thalaivas raider makes it to the mid-line with no fuss
11-16: Mahendra Rajput picks up a bonus and a touch point too courtesy of a failed ankle hold by Himanshu.
11-14: Do-or-die raid for Thalaivas, Himanshu Singh goes in and Parvesh comes up with a diving ankle hold before Sunil comes for the block.
11-13: This time Himanshu Singh contributes in defence as he initiates the double ankle hold on Ajay Kumar before others pile up on him.
10-13: Do-or-die raid for Giants, Rakesh goes in and Himanshu traps him with a tight ankle hold before Santhapanaselvam comes in with the assist.
9-13: A high quality double thigh hold by Sunil Kumar to bring the mighty Manjeet down.
9-12: Girish Ernak goes for an advanced tackle and Himanshu takes him with him over the mid-line.
8-12: Wow!! Manjeet with an unbelievable flying hand touch sends the right corner to the bench.
7-11: Ajay Kumar goes in for the raid, sees Abishek coming in for the block abd back tracks but the Thalaivas defence somehow manages to stop him before he could get his hand across the mid-line.
6-11: ALL OUT!!! Sagar Krishna picked up a bonus but then Girish Ernak took him down.
5-7: Rakesh from Thalaivas picks up a bonus.
4-7: Thalaivas down to two as Mahendra takes a touch off Sagar Rathee's knee.
4-6: Another brutal block by Girish and Himanshu, who was in for the do-or-die raid, had no chance of escaping.
4-5: Superb toe touch on Himanshu and Rakesh puts Giants ahead.
4-4: Left corner Sagar Rathee pounces on Mahendra Rajput who was looking for a touch on the right corner and had his back towards Sagar.
3-4: Combination tackle from Sunil and Girish to push Manjeet off the mat.
3-3: Do-or-die raid for Giants, Rakesh goes for the bonus, does not get it but does win a touch point as Abishek's dash comes too late.
3-2: Do-or-die raid for Thalaivas, Himanshu goes in but does not make it back to his side of the mat as Girish Ernak blocks him.
3-1: HS Rakesh picks up a bonus to open the account for Giants.
3-0: Manjeet puts in the next raid and Parvesh brings him down with a big back hold but the officials rule Parvesh self-out as he right foot had gone out of bounds. Giants have lost their review challenging the decision.
2-0: And now Mahendra Rajput walks back to the bench. Tamil Thalaivas' defence making its intentions clear.
1-0: Ajay Kumar goes in for the raid, tries for the bonus and returns but does not reach the mid-line as Sagar Rathee stops him with a brilliant block.
0-0: Manjeet comes for the opening raid and walks back without a point.
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TOSS - Gujarat Giants wins the toss and selects left side of the court. Tamil Thalaivas to raid first.
LINE-UPS!!!
Tamil Thalaivas:
Manjeet, M. Abishek, Aashish, Sagar Rathee (c), Himanshu, Sagar Krishna, Himanshu Singh
Gujarat Giants: Ajay Kumar, Sunil Kumar (c), Parvesh Bhainswal, HS Rakesh, Mahendra Rajput, Hadi Oshtorak, Girish Ernak
9:40pm: Head-to-head stats: Matches played -5, Matches won by Gujarat Giants - 3, Matches won by Tamil Thalaivas - 2, Last meeting - Gujarat Giants won 37-35 when the two sides met earlier this season
9:30pm: Tamil Thalaivas' capitulation continued, as it succumbed to one of the heaviest defeats in franchise history in its previous outing. Its 52-21 mauling at the hands of Bengal Warriors was its sixth defeat on the trot and saw it slip to 11 on the points table. The Thalaivas have finished in the bottom two on the points table in every season since their entry in vivo PKL. They will likely field a much changed starting seven against the Giants featuring some of their fringe players, as they look towards the future.
Two wins and a tie in its last three matches has seen Gujarat Giants give itself a great opportunity of qualifying for the playoffs. It is eighth on the points table and is trailing sixth-placed Jaipur Pink Panthers by five points. Jaipur’s significant point difference means the Giants will not only have to beat the Thalaivas, but they will also have to do so by a huge margin - 33 to be precise - to finish the night in the top six. The Giants need two wins in their final two games to ensure they qualify for the playoffs without having to depend on results elsewhere.
9:20pm: In the second match of the evening, Dabang Delhi is storming to a massive win over Telugu Titans. Follow our coverage of this exciting match here:
9:10pm: The 2022 edition of the Sportstar Aces Awards is back and we are celebrating the marvellous year for Indian Sports that 2021 was. From Neeraj Chopra and the other Olympic and Paralympic medallists to the Indian cricket team, we have a bunch of nominees who need your vote to win! Click here to VOTE!
9pm: Hello folks and welcome to our third and final game of the evening in which eighth-placed Gujarat Giants will hope to keep its play-off hopes alive when it faces 11th-placed Tamil Thalaivas! Before we get to that, here's a recap of what went down in the PKL over the last fortnight -
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