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 Telugu Titans and Puneri Paltan.
That brings us to the end of our Pro Kabaddi League coverage for the day. We will be back tomorrow. See you then!
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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: Puneri Paltan never took its foot off the pedal today as it demolished bottom-placed Telugu Titans in a one-sided match. Raiders Aslam Inamdar and Mohit Goyat clinched Super 10s while both corner defenders Vishal Bharadwaj and Sombir had High 5s. For Telugu Titans, the only positive from this match was a Super 10 for Ankit Beniwal. With this win, Puneri Paltan has climbed up to seventh on the points table.
FULL TIME: Puneri Paltan marches towards the play-off spots with a big 20-point win over bottom-placed Telugu Titans.
31-51: HIGH FIVE FOR VISHAL with a brilliant ankle hold on Ankit Beniwal.
31-50: Nitin Tomar goes in for the raid, Titans do not care what he does and he go all in on him straight away but the experience raider uses backtracking skills and reaches the mid-line comfortably.
31-48: SUPER 10 FOR ANKIT BENIWAL who had a couple of Paltan players trying to push him off the mat but he somehow made it to the mid-line.
29-48: A needless advanced tackle from Prince D and Nitin Tomar reaches the mid-line.
29-47: A rare error from Aslam Inamdar and Ankit Beniwal escapes with a touch point.
28-47: First point of the night for Surinder as he brings down Mohit Goyat.
27-47: Sombir gets his sixth tackle point and this time, his target is Rakesh Gowda.
27-46: One more point for Mohit Goyat as he jumps over Galla Raju to make it to safety.
27-45: HIGH FIVE FOR SOMBIR as he executes an easy double thigh hold on Ankit Beniwal.
27-44: Ankit Beniwal goes in and continues the good work with a touch point off Sanket Sawant.
26-44: Sub raider Akash Shinde picks up an easy touch point off Galla Raju.
26-43: Another multi-point raid for Ankit as he first escapes Mohit's ankle hold and then takes a touch off Abinesh too on the way back.
Final strategic time out. Five minutes to go and Paltan looks set for a big win tonight.
24-43: Aslam picks up the bonus but then gets trapped in the ankle hold of the right corner.
23-42: ALL OUT!!!! This is just one-sided now. Fourth tackle point for Vishal as he brings down Prince with the ankle hold.
23-39: Mohit Goyat (who else?) puts in a quick raid and reduces Titans to one man again.
23-38: Abinesh commits the error with a lose block and Prince D avoid the All Out.
22-38: SUPER 10 FOR MOHIT GOYAT!!!! The raider reduced TT to one man as he makes it to the mid-line despite Akash's ankle hold.
22-37: He does it in offense and in defense too. A high quality ankle hold by Mohit Goyat to stop Gall Raju.
22-36: Do-or-die raid for Adarsh but no worries as he gets a toe touch on Vishal.
21-36: One step closer. Mohit Goyat sends Shihas to the bench with a quick touch.
21-35: The procession continues. Mohit Goyat this time takes a touch off Surinder on the left corner.
First strategic time out. Ten minutes to go and Puneri Paltan has a tight grip on the match.
21-34: Another successful raid for Mohit Goyat who takes a touch point off Adarsh T on the left corner.
21-33: Lovely dash by Sanket to push Ankit off the mat.
In case you want to know more about the enigma that is Aslam Inamdar, here is a piece by my colleague Shyam Vasudevan:
21-32: Needless block attempted by Prince D and Aslam makes it to safety. SUPER 10 FOR ASLAM INAMDAR.
21-31: Ankit Beniwal gets a running hand touch off Vishal on the left corner and then makes it to the mid-line despite Abinesh's dash. Paltan has lost its review saying that Ankit was pushed off the mat before he got his hand across the mid-line.
19-31: Aslam Inamdar picks up a bonus.
19-30: Back to full strength but not for much long. Galla Raju gets trapped in the ankle hold on the left corner.
19-29: ALL OUT!!!! Here it comes. Prince D came in for the raid, could not even get the bonus before the wall that is Sombir came in front of him. One more point has been awarded to Paltan since Akash could not join back before the All Out was inflicted.
19-25: Mistake from Ramakrishna who went for the dash on Mohit but Mohit was way too quick and escaped easily. Titans lose their review after unsuccessfully saying that Mohit was self out.
Akash has been issued a yellow card (two-minute suspension) for holding Aslam's neck.
19-24: SUPER TACKLE!!!! Titans are just about hanging in there. Prince D gets the ankle and Akash provides the assist to take down Aslam.
17-24: Rakesh Gowda avoids the All Out for Titans as he got a touch point courtesy of a needless dash from Nitin Tomar after picking the bonus.
15-24: Aslam reduces Titans to one man with a touch point off Surinder.
15-23: Do-or-die raid for Titans, Ankit goes in and walks straight into Sombir's block.
HALF-TIME: Telugu Titans 15-22 Puneri Paltan
15-22: SUPER TACKLE!!!!! Mohit Goyat goes in with just Akash and Surinder on the mat. He tries to take a touch off Surinder who avoids it carefully. Akash then comes in for the block and Mohit jumps over him. However, Akash executes the thigh hold and the assist from Surinder comes in time.
13-22: Keep it going, Paltan must be thinking as it takes down Muhammed Shihas.
13-21: One more tackle point for the in-form Paltan defence as they send Adarsh T back to the bench.
13-20: Do-or-die raid for Paltan , Mohit goes in and quickly takes a running hand touch off Ramakrishna. Excellent.
13-19: Galla Raju is the next raider but the fortunes of the Titans don't change. Another unsuccessful raid.
13-18: Ankit Beniwal goes in for the raid, goes a little too deep while picking the bonus which gives Sanket Sawant enough time to put in the dash and push Ankit off the mat.
12-17: Better from Titans. Everyone looked in complete sync while blocking Nitin Tomar.
11-17: ALL OUT!!! Galla Raju, last Titans player on the mat, picks up a bonus but then unintentionally walks into the lobbies without a touch.
10-14: Reckless block attempted by Akash and Mohit has no problem in returning to his side of the mat.
10-13: Bonus for Galla Raju.
9-13: Error from Palla Ramakrishna provides Mohit his third raid point of the night.
9-12: Amazing running side kick by Aslam and Surinder on the left corner could not do anything to avoid the touch.
9-11: Do-or-die raid for Adarsh but he has been easily trapped by the Paltan defence.
9-10: Titans are coming back. It was Mohit who was in for the raid, he jumped over one defender but the second wall of defence eventually stopped him.
8-10: SUPER TACKLE!!!! Careless from Aslam. Three on the mat and he steps into the lobbies without a touch for self-out.
6-10: Ankit Beniwal goes in but does not return to his side of the mat. Paltan defence in full flow now.
6-9: SUPER TACKLE!!!! Mohit Goyat went in with three Titans on the mat but they proved sufficient to trap him. Brilliant ankle hold by Adarsh T.
4-9: Mohit Goyat comes in for the next raid, Shihas tries the double ankle hold and keeps waiting for the support which does not come.
4-8: Do-or-die raid for Titans, Adarsh goes in, Sombir puts in the ankle hold but gets no support.
3-8: Mohit Goyat this time and he does not disappoint either. A touch point off Galla Raju.
3-7: Another successful raid for Aslam who gets a running hand touch off Surinder on the left corner.
3-6: First tackle point of the night. Mohit Goyat initiated the ankle hold on Ankit Beniwal before others came for support.
3-5: Aslam picks up a bonus.
3-4: Running hand touch for Galla Raju off Abinesh Nadarajan. Abinesh accepts it and walks off the mat.
2-4: Another bonus for Ankit Beniwal.
1-4: SUPER RAID!!!! Aslam Inamdar is unstoppable. He picked up a bonus, escaped right corner's ankle hold and also went past the second defender's dash.
1-1: Ankit Beniwal picks up a bonus to open Titans' account.
0-1: Aslam Inamdar goes in for the opening raid and picks a bonus.
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TOSS - Telugu Titans wins the toss and selects right side of the court. Puneri Paltan to raid first.
9:48pm: LINE-UPS!!!
Telugu Titans: Surinder Singh (c), Ankit Beniwal, Galla Raju, Adarsh T, Palla Ramakrishna, Muhammed Shihas, Akash Choudhary
Puneri Paltan: Nitin Tomar (c), Vishal, Sombir, Aslam Inamdar, Mohit Goyat, Abinesh Nadarajan, Sanket Sawant
U Mumba beats defending champion Bengal Warriors 37-27 to climb to sixth place on the points table. For the Warriors, the mathematical possibility of making it to the play-offs is still there but it will be a miracle if they did reach the next stage.
9:37pm: In the second match, U Mumba is currently leading Bengal Warriors 32-22 with five minutes left on the clock. Follow my colleague Nigamanth's live coverage here:
9:35pm: First match of the triple panga night was an absolute nail-biter where Dabang Delhi beat Tamil Thalaivas by just one point to put one foot in the play-off spots. ICYMI, here are the match highlights:
9:30pm: Head-to-head stats: Matches played - 15, Matches won by Telugu Titans - 6, Matches won by Puneri Paltan - 8, Matches tied - 1, Last meeting: Puneri Paltan won 34-33
9:20pm: Puneri Paltan bounced back from their 17-point loss against the Patna Pirates with an 18-point victory over the Haryana Steelers last night. Rookie raiding duo Aslam Inamdar and Mohit Goyat combined for 20 points, while veteran Sombir picked up seven tackle points. Barring their blemish against the Pirates, Pune have been almost flawless recently. A win on Saturday, combined with a tie or a loss for U Mumba, will see the Paltan finish the night in the top six. But even if they don’t, it only seems like a matter of time before they climb into one of the playoff spots.
9:10pm: The Telugu Titans come into this game on the back of a 34-32 loss against the Gujarat Giants. Rajnish had another positive outing, as he finished the game with 10 points. Adarsh T continued to make an impact on both sides of the court, scoring four raid points and two tackle points. Six of the Titans’ 13 defeats have been by two points or fewer, and they have also played out four ties. They haven’t been able to come out on top in close games, which has been their undoing their season. The Titans have four games left this season and will want to win as many as possible.
9pm: 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!
8:5 0pm: In case if you're new to this sport, here's a simple explainer that covers all the rules of the game and the various terms such as 'All Out', 'Do-or-die' and 'Super Tackle'-
8:40pm: Hello folks and welcome to our PKL coverage for the day! The final game of the evening will see last-placed Telugu Titans take on ninth-placed Puneri Paltan. Before we get to that, here's a recap of what went down in the PKL over the last fortnight -
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