Pro Kabaddi: Telugu Titans win season opener against Bengaluru Bulls; Dabang Delhi beats U Mumba

The dynamic Pawan Sehrawat put on a show at the Gachibowli Indoor Stadium on the opening night of the 2024 Pro Kabaddi League he rewrote the history books and led his team a clinical 37-29 win against the Bengaluru Bulls on Friday.

The new season’s first points went to the Telugu Titans, as captain Sehrawat got the first raid point. He went onto add a couple of more raid points for his side, and much to the joy of the Hyderabad crowd, the Telugu Titans took a three-point lead early on.

But a few minutes later, Pardeep Narwal and the Bengaluru Bulls fought back, reducing the lead to one-point.

The contest continued to swing both ways with the neither sides not willing to give an inch. After a time-out, the Telugu Titans picked up the momentum, with Sehrawat leading the charge.

At the half-time break, the Titans, cheered on by a packed house, went ahead of the Bengaluru Bulls by nine points, with the score reading 20-11.

The second half started off with the Bengaluru Bulls out of the blocks faster than their opposition as the defenders kept the Telugu Titans at bay and the raiders made every opportunity count. Soon enough, the nine-point lead from the first half had been reduced to a four-point deficit.

Surinder Dehal and Narwal were in fine form for the Bulls, who inflicted an all-out on the Telugu Titans, midway through the second phase. With 10 minutes to go, the deficit was down to one point, with the score reading 24-23.

From that point, the Telugu Titans fought back. Sehrawat reached the 10-point mark and had the likes of Krishan, Vijay Malik, Sagar, and Ajit Pawar giving him ample support.

Within the next few minutes, the Telugu Titans wrestled back the momentum, and marched to a seven-point lead. Moments after completing his Super 10, Pawan Sehrawat breached the 1200-point mark, to become the third ever player in the history of the league to achieve the milestone.

The Telugu Titans then went onto inflict an all out on the Bengaluru Bulls and thwarted any hopes of a comeback, as the lead stretched to eight points with a couple of minutes to go. Eventually, the Telugu Titans walked off the mat with an impressive win.

Ashu Malik shines for Dabang Delhi

Dabang Delhi K.C. kicked off their 2024 Pro Kabaddi League campaign with fantastic performance when they saw off the challenge off U Mumba. Led by the brilliant performance from Ashu Malik, they won the contest 36-28.

From the get-go, Dabang Delhi and U Mumba were engaged in a close battle, with neither team able to pull away into an early lead. Malik was leading the charge for Dabang Delhi, while Ajit Chavan was scoring the most points for the U Mumba side in the early exchanges.

A short while later Malik inflicted an all out on U Mumba and helped his side take a four-point lead midway through the first-half. After that, Dabang Delh were able to keep their opponents at bay for the rest of the half.

At the half-time break, the Dabang Delhi K.C. side led by four points at 19-15, with Malik having scored six of those.

The second half saw the Dabang Delhi further consolidate their position in the contest. In the first phase of the second half, Malik continued to pick up points with relative ease. But midway through the second half, the U Mumba threatened to fight back with Chavan scoring his Super 10. He had immense support in the form of Amirmohammad Zafardanesh.

With 10 minutes to go in the contest, the Dabang Delhi had a six-point lead. U Mumba were not going to give in and they fought hard in the final phase of play. Zafardanesh was doing it all for his side – raiding and defending, as U Mumba continued to chip away at the deficit.

However, the late charge wasn’t enough for U Mumba as Malik registered his first Super 10 of the season, helping his side walk off with the win in the second game on the opening night.

For U Mumba, Zafardanesh finished with 11 points to his name while Chavan scored 10 as well.