Puneri Paltan had the best raider in Sonu Narwal and best catcher in Manjeet Chillar against Telugu Titans in the STAR Sports ProKabaddi League season four opening game at the NSCI.
Chillar led the home team to a 28-24 victory over Titans.
Titans captain Rahul Chaudhary, supported by Sandeep Narwal and Vinod, tried to catch up with the rivals, but fell short after an initial flourish. Paltan drew level at the 18-point mark in the first half and handled the pressure well. Virat Kohli and film actor Amitabh Bachchan were among the spectators.
Paltan’s prized signing Armyman Tomar took part in raids as the team got back into the game, two points away from its rival 13-15 at the breather. Thakur emerged as the most effective in the rival zone, winning two raid points and a bonus. Sonu Narwal bagged two raid points.
Paltan clawed back into the game through its raiders. Tomar produced a deft touch and tumbled backwards in a display of reflexes.
Narwal built on the work done by his teammate as the orange-and-white outfit moved ahead 20-18 for the first time in an engaging contest.
Titans slogged hard on both sides of the mat in the last quarter. Sandeep Narwal and Vinoth Kumar returned successful from raids, the catchers snared rival raider Deepak Hooda in the closing stages to reduce the deficit, but Paltan held on to sneak home.
The result:
Puneri Paltan 28 (Manjeet Chillar 6, Ajay Thakur 3, Ravinder Pahal 3, Sonu Narwal 5, Joginder Narwal 3) bt Telugu Titans 24 (Rahul Chaudhary 4, Sandeep Narwal 6, Vinod 5).
