The first match of the final day of the Pro Kabaddi season 4 will see, the Telugu Titans take on the Puneri Paltan to determine the third spot in Star Sports Pro Kabaddi season 4. Rahul Chaudhari led team were thrashed by the season 1 champions Jaipur Pink Panthers on Friday, and a win in today’s match will see them finish in 3rd place.
The local fans want their team to perform at the highest level in today’s match, after witnessing a lacklustre performance against Jaipur.
Puneri Paltan, on the other hand, fought tooth and nail against the defending champions Patna Pirates in the first semi-final but eventually lost by four point margin. Manjeet Chhillar’s men will look to bounce back in today’s match and end the season on a winning note.
Both teams are dejected by their semi-final loss, however they look to put a stellar show for one last time in season 4.
Match Prediction
The Titans after losing the first four matches maintained an unbeaten streak of 9 matches in season 4, but Jaipur ended their dream run in the decisive phase . The Poster boy of Pro Kabaddi Rahul Chaudhari has scored 128 raid points in season 4, but, however, Rahul failed to trouble the Jaipur defence on Friday.
The fearsome raider should come good in today’s match against the Puneri Paltan and moreover, he will face a stern battle against the best defensive all-rounder in Pro Kabaddi Manjeet Chhillar. Nilesh Salunke should complement Rahul in today’s match.
The in-form Titans defence struggled against the attacking duo of Ajay Kumar and Jasvir Singh on Friday. The cornerstones Sandeep Narwal and Sandeep Dhull scored a combined 75 points raid points in season 4 and the duo will be up against the in-form Pune attack lead by Deepak Niwas Hudda.
The cover defenders Jasmer Singh Gulia and Vinod should ably support the corner defenders.
Ajay Thakur’s uninspired run in season 4 has been a huge setback for Pune and moreover, it adds more pressure on the in-form Hudda in the do-or-die situations. Having scored more than 100 raid points for the first time in Pro Kabaddi, Hudda will look to carry his impressive run against his old team.
The 23-year-old raider will face a stiff battle against Sandeep Narwal, after losing many duels against the right corner defender in the previous clash.
The strong shielded Pune defence lead by Manjeet Chhillar will be highly tested against the best raider of Pro Kabaddi, Rahul Chaudhari. Although Pune defence capitulated to Rahul in the previous clash, they made a strong impact in the last two matches.
]The cornerstones of Pune defence Joginder Narwal and Somivir Shekhar will battle it out against the athletic Nilesh Salunke.
The head to head overall stands 5-2 in favour of Titans but however, it stands 1-1 in season 4. As mentioned it’s going to be a mammoth battle between the league’s best raider Rahul Chaudhari and the best defensive all-rounder Manjeet Chhillar.
The former Bengaluru captain has stopped Rahul’s impeccable raids in the past with strong ankle and thigh holds. The chants of “Rahul Rahul” will reverberate at the Gachibowli indoor stadium once again When Rahul takes the centre stage to attack the Manjeet Chillar’s army.
It’s going to be a battle between Telugu’s frightening attack against Pune’s rock solid defence. As there is no trophy on the line , still these two teams want to end the season on a winning note. It’s a difficult call but we go with Telugu Titans to clinch a narrow win in front of the local crowd.
Squads
Telugu Titans
Defenders: Vinod Kumar, Sandeep Dhull, Jasmer Singh Gulia,
All-rounders: Rupesh Tomar, Sandeep Narwal, Mohammad Maghsoudlou, Shashank Wankhede, Aklhaq Hussain, Muhammed Rizwan, Sagar B. Krishna, Vishal Bhardwaj
Raiders: Vinoth Kumar, K.Prapanjan, Nilesh Salunke. Rahul Chaudhary, Sukesh Hegde, Sombir, Athul MS
Puneri Paltan
Defenders: I Ketut Ariana, Gurpreet Singh, Somvir Shekhar, Ravinder Pahal, Joginder Narwal, Khomsan Thongkham, Virender Chhillar
All-rounders: Parmod Narwal, Preetam Chhillar, Manjeet Chhillar, Dalbir, Deepak Niwas Hooda
Raider: Ajay Thakur, Sonu Narwal, Jay Bahadur Bohara, Anil Shriram Nimbolkar, Akshay Jadhav
Telugu Titans vs Puneri Paltan Live Match Information
Date: 31/07/2016
Time: 20:00 IST
Venue: Gachibowli Indoor Stadium, Hyderabad
TV Channels: Star Sports 2/Star Sports 2 HD (English), Star Sports 3/Star Sports 3 HD (Hindi)
Live stream: www.starsports.com