Pro Kabaddi League 2017: Bengal Warriors cruise past sorry Telugu Titans, Gujarat, Haryana share spoils

Hyderabad: Hosts Telugu Titans suffered fourth consecutive defeat with a 24-30 loss to Bengal Warriors in the fifth edition of the Pro Kabaddi League (PKL) at the Gachibowli Indoor Stadium in Hyderabad on Wednesday.

Raider Maninder Singh (11 points) and versatile South Korean player Jang Kun Lee (eight points) powered Bengal to a great win on their first match of the campaign.

For Telugu, Vikas contributed eight points, while Rahul Chaudhari and Nilesh Salunke bagged (five points each but they couldn’t stop their team from suffering fourth loss in five outings.

After defeating U Mumba in the tournament opener on Friday, Telugu fell to double defending champions Patna Pirates, Bengaluru Bulls and UP Yoddha.

Telugu made a decent start, holding a 6-4 lead but Maninder earned three touch points to give Bengal 7-6 lead. Nimble-footed Jang Kun Lee too made impact for Bengal.

Maninder, with his strong physical presence combined with agility, continued his impressive show as two of his raids earned two points each as Telugu struggled with their defence structure.

Bengal forced an early all out on Telugu to lead 13-8 in the 10th minute. The eastern outfit kept a check on Rahul Chaudhari and Vikas which helped them to keep their five-point lead with the score at 19-14 at half-time.

In the second part, Telugu improved their game, both in defence and attack. But Bengal defence too stepped up and Kun Lee kept easing the pressure with occasional raiding points as the eastern franchise never kept Telugu at bay.

“It was a great start for us. Our raiders gave us a very good beginning and then we defended well in the later part. We will further improve from this performance,” captain Surjeet Singh said after the match.

Haryana, Gujarat play out thrilling draw

Gujarat Fortunegiants and Haryana Steelers played the first draw of the fifth edition of the Pro Kabaddi League (PKL), with the teams deadlocked at 27-27 at the Gachibowli Indoor Stadium in Hyderabad on Wednesday.

Haryana captain Surender Nada starred in the Zone A match between two teams with strong defences. Surender bagged seven tackle points to rescue his team, while Vikash Khandola (seven points) was the key raider for them.

For Gujarat, who had a 20-13 lead following Haryana’s all out in the 28th minute, substitute Mahendra Rajput was the main contributor with five raiding points. Sukesh Hegde and Sachin got three raiding points each, while Indian defenders Sunil Kumar and Parvesh Bhainswal got three tackling points each.

Their team effort gave them a strong beginning but each time they took a healthy lead, Haryana kept fighting back.

Gujarat threatened early on, racing away to a 4-0 lead. Sachin earned two touch points to open Gujarat’s account. Haryana’s Wazir Singh sidestepped while returning from a raid as Gujarat led 3-0. Rakesh Singh was touched out by Sachin making it 4-0.

Then, substitute Prashant Kumar Rai brought home the first point for Haryana with a touch point which revived them to four players.

Rai made it 2-4 before Sachin was caught to cut the deficit to one. Sukesh Hegde then made it 5-3 before Vikash Khandola earned one touch to bring it to 4-5.

Rakesh Narwal was caught and then Khandola was nabbed as Gujarat led 7-4. Haryana fought back again as Sachin and Hegde were caught and Rai struck again to equalise 7-7.

Then, Mayur Shivtarkar, Rakesh and Wazir were tackled by the robust Gujarat defence as the western outfit gained a three-point advantage, with the score at 11-8 at half-time.

At the beginning of the second half, substitute Surjeet Singh got two touch points as Haryana, facing an all-out, recovered two players and equalised 11-11.

Then, the rock-solid Gujarat defence tackled one raider after another to give them a big advantage. A big moment of the match came when Haryana, reduced to two men, were all out when Hegde struck two touch points, removing Rai and Neeraj Kumar in the 28th minute. Following this Gujarat led 20-13

Afterwards, Haryana showed a lot of grit and determination to resurrect their position. Khandola, who struggled for the better part of the match, incursed into Gujarat’s half and returned with magical three touch points to make it 20-22 and then Haryana forced an all out on Gujarat to equalise at the 23-point mark.

Later, Mahendra Rajput and Surjeet Singh brought couple of points for Gujarat and Haryana as they ended the match at 27-27.