Pro Kabaddi: Bengal Warriors go top after beating Tamil Thalaivas, Telugu Titans finish with a win

Bengal Warriors produced a clinical performance to beat Tamil Thalaivas 33-29 in a Pro Kabaddi match at Greater Noida on Wednesday.

Sukesh Hegde (6 raid points), Mohammad Nabibakhsh (7 points) and Rinku Narwal (High 5 with 5 tackle points) impressed for the Warriors as they clinched the win to go to the top of the PKL standings at the Shaheed Vijay Singh Pathik Sports Complex.

Rahul Chaudhari scored seven points for the Thalaivas as they finished their woeful campaign with another loss.

The star-studded Chennai-based team managed only four wins in the entire season.

Tamil Thalaivas approached the match with confidence, having beaten Jaipur Pink Panthers in their previous outing, and opened a lead in the early minutes, thanks to Ajith Kumar and Chaudhari’s raids.

Chaudhari moved well on the mat to pick up valuable points but Bengal’s defence got into the game with Nabibakhsh impressing.

Soon Bengal were in the lead but Thalaivas regrouped well to stay in the match.

Bengal looked like a side who had their eyes set on the semi-finals clash next week, and their lack of ruthlessness allowed the Tamil side to make a comeback and level the points. The first half ended with the scores 13-13.

Bengal Warriors stepped up their game in the second half, thanks largely to raiders Nabibakhsh and Hegde.

Though Ran Singh pulled off a super tackle in the fifth minute of the half it was just a case of delaying the inevitable with the Warriors picking up their all-out in the eighth minute to open up a six-point lead.

Thalaivas’ Ajith was in no mood to be contained though and his raids made it a two-point game soon after the all-out.

But Rinku Narwal produced a super tackle with seven minutes remaining to halt Thalaivas’ domination.

Sourabh Tanaji Patil also chipped in with valuable raid points for the Warriors as they once again opened up a six-point lead with two minutes remaining.

The Bengal defence held firm in the final minutes to clinch a victory.

Desai dazzles as Titans ned on winning note

Telugu Titans defeated home team UP Yoddha 41-36 in the second game on Wednesday. Siddharth Desai scored 15 points for the Telugu Titans as they ended a disastrous campaign with a win.

The Titans started on the front foot with Desai looking comfortable in the raids. The star raider, despite a healthy tall of overall points, did not have a season to match his high standards and would have been keen to end the season on a high.

He picked up a two-point raid in the fourth minute to give the Titans the momentum. Aakash Arsul looked comfortable in defence for the Titans but UP’s Shrikant Jadhav turned things around for the home side around the half-way mark of the first half.

The raider’s two-point raid with three minutes left in the half gave UP the lead for the first time in the match and helped them inflict an all-out in the subsequent move. The first half ended 20-14 with the Yoddha in control.

The home side carried the momentum after the restart and quickly got their all-out in the fifth minute to open up a massive 12-point lead.

With a victory looking likely, UP coach Jasvir Singh decided to rest some of his star players and give the team’s substitutes a chance to impress.

Desai upped his game in the latter stages to make the game a close affair. He secured a four-point super raid with under five minutes remaining. Titans levelled the points with three minutes left in the match.

Sumit pulled off a massive super tackle on Desai (thereby clinching a High 5) but Farhad Milaghardan produced a two-point raid immediately afterwards to level the scores again.

Titans clinched an all-out with around two minutes left in the match to get a two-point lead. The Titans’ defence held firm in the final minutes to see out the victory.