Vivo Pro Kabaddi League: Thigh-five!

Hyderabad: In a dominant start, the Telugu Titans came hard at the inexperienced Tamil Thalaivas and chocked them with a 5-point difference — 32-27 — to open their account in the Zone ‘B’ match of the fifth season of Vivo Pro Kabaddi League here at the Gachibowli Indoor Stadium on Friday. Home skipper Rahul Chaudhari was all guns blazing despite receiving a minor injury to the eye during Ajay Thakur’s Raid.  Rahul was named Perfect Raider for earning 10 points in the match while Titans player Vishal Bhardwaj was adjudged as the Player of the Match for his rigid defensive skills on the mat.

Earlier, visiting skipper Ajay Thakur commenced with the first raid to mark the proceedings. However, it was the new-buy Rakesh Kumar who opened the account for the home team with a point. Both sides continued to pick points, however it was Rahul who edged his side ahead. The Titans quickly increased the lead to 6-3 but Ajay was in no mood to relax and gave the Titans back by taking out Rahul Chaudhari. The scores read 4-6 with Titans still leading.

Later, in the first do-or-die raid of the match, Vineet Kumar fetched a bonus point for the Thalaivas to reduce the margin to 5-7. It was double blow for the home side in the first Super tackle of the match as the visitors got Rahul Chaudhari and inched closer, at 7-8. However, Ajay and his young boys were exposed in defence and the Titans pulled ahead 18-11 at half-time. In the second half too, the Titans continued their rampage while the visitors lagged behind.