New Delhi: Telugu Titans beat league leaders Jaipur Pink Panthers 24-21 in the second match of the day in the VIVO Pro Kabaddi 2019 at the Thyagaraj Complex in New Delhi. Vishal Bhardwaj, with 8 Tackle Points, was the Titan for the South Indian team in a low-scoring match fought between two highly organised defences.
Despite their league positions, it was the Telugu Titans who started the match on a positive note, with Siddharth Desai and his brother Suraj Desai impressing their raids. Defender Amit Hooda wasn’t part of the starting seven for the league leaders due to an injury while their lead raider Deepak Hooda also looked to be carrying as he struggled for to put together a successful raid. At a point, the Titans had reduced the Pink Panthers to two on the mat thanks to Vishal Bhardwaj’s impressive tackling. But Jaipur’s biggest this season strength has been preventing All-Outs and the men in Pink pulled out four successful Super Tackles to turn the game around. The season one champions, shouldered by the league’s best tackler in Sandeep Dhull and Amit Hooda’s replacement in the right corner, Santhapanaselvam, moved to a lead in the closing minutes of a first half that ended 14-11.
Telugu Titans, marshalled by Vishal Bhardwaj, matched the Pink Panthers tackle for tackle as raiders from both sides struggled to get a stranglehold of the match. The Desai brothers, Deepak Hooda were all spectators as the game became a battle between two defences who were not willing to let the raiders settle. The game saw eight successful Super Tackles as the Titans led by a point (22-21) with less than a minute remaining in the match. A perfect tackle Abozar Mighani meant the Titans had a two-point cushion going into the final raid of the match in a Do-or-Die situation and the Irani all-rounder evaded a Super Tackle and came away with a raid point to secure the victory for the Titans.
The raiding unit’s poor showing will be a concern for coach Srinivas Reddy whose Jaipur side will take on defending champions Bengaluru Bulls on Sunday.
Tune-in Details (25/08/2019):
7:30 PM: Jaipur Pink Panther vs Bengaluru Bulls
8:30 PM: Dabang Delhi vs U.P. Yoddha
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