A clinical performance by the Jaipur Pink Panthers earned them a massive 51-27 victory over Telugu Titans in the second game of the day of ongoing season nine of Pro Kabaddi League at the Shree Kanteerava Indoor Stadium in Bengaluru on Saturday.
Raiders Arjun Deshwal, Rahul Chaudhari and defender Sahul Kumar were the stars for the Pink Panthers in the evening.
If the Titans hoped to end their miserable run with an inspiring performance, then this may well have been the time to turn up. Except, almost right from the onset, it was the Pink Panthers who were on top. They rushed into a lead, and it took the Titans till they were down by six points to score their first point of the game. However, Rahul Chaudhari's SUPER RAID took out Mohit Pahal and Ravinder Pahal and helped Jaipur initiate the first ALL OUT of the game.
The Panthers went further, with a second ALL OUT to extend their lead at 23-7, with five minutes of the first half left to play. The Titans' porous defence had been their failing all season and so it proved again, a mere 2 of 21 tackles successful in the first half. The Panthers went into the break leading 29-10.
Any hopes of a resurgence were extinguished fairly quickly as the Panthers got a third ALL OUT to extend their lead. Jaipur's clinical nature was in sharp contrast to the Titans' lack of coherence and the points were quickly adding up. Arjun Deshwal completed his 10 points with 10 minutes to play and while there was no doubt about his brilliance, the real eye catcher was Sahul Kumar whose 7 tackle points -- four of which caught the Titans' lead raider Siddharth Desai -- were an example of the Panthers' dominance and the Titans' failings.
The Titans earned an ALL OUT with seconds of the match remaining to reduce the deficit. But by then it was not a matter of if or when, but how much the Panthers would win by. Another double-digit demolition aided the Panthers to cement their position at the second spot on the points table.
Matches for Sunday:
7:30 PM: Bengaluru Bulls vs Patna Pirates
8:30 PM: UP Yoddhas vs Tamil Thalaivas
Venue: Shree Kanteerava Indoor Stadium, Bengaluru
Matches of Season 9 of the Pro Kabaddi League will be broadcast live on the Star Sports Network and Disney+ Hotstar from 7:30 PM onwards.
( With inputs from ANI )
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