Patna: Sukesh Hegde and Prashant Rai staged Telugu fifth win Kabaddi Titans in Pro League Season 2 because they dominated Patna Pirates 34-22 in Pataliputra Sports Complex here on Thursday.
The victory takes account of the Titans to 26 points, as they maintained their second place in the table. Patna with just one win under his belt in four games remain in last place with only seven points.
The teams were level at an early stage with the lead changing hands. The average time score 13-12 in favor of the visitors promised a humdinger of a contest, but the hosts simply collapsed under the relentless pressure of the attacking duo of the Titans.
Thursday performance Sukesh and Prashant has opened new options for the Titans to set alarms for their opponents.
Compounding the Pirates worry, in the left corner of the Titans Sandeep was irresistibly to waist with front blocks and keeps rivals engulf invaders and Ravi Rakesh Dalal to provide excellent support.
The Pirates had a good start with Rakesh showing glimpses of his class. He had good support from young Sandeep Narwal which rose two points raid and a good game to help his team stay in the hunt.
For its star and raider Titans last season leader Rahul Chaudhari was totally out of color and so was Hudda Nivas Deepak, his second raider chain also duplicated in defense.
But as they say is the hour cometh the man, Sukesh Hegde rose to the occasion. A super attack to send his team 12-9 to the surprise of his colleagues and the partisan crowd made Patna. That was the turning point because the Titans never looked back since then, although Patna raised expectations of their fans.
Substitute Ernak Girish Kumar and Rakesh achieved a super address each snatch the lead 16-15 after 25 minutes.
But it was again Hegde who did the damage. He sent Ravi Dalal at a turning point after which Prashant Rai went on stage. He dominated from then to take your account to eight points with a pair of raids ended with two points each. This resulted in the second merciless to Patna and effectively extinguished their hopes of making a comeback in the 37th minute 33-19.
In the press conference after the match, both team owner and captain Rajesh V Shah Rakesh Kumar were optimistic of better fortunes for his team.
“This was the first game of our first leg. We’re not going to lose confidence after the loss to Telugu Titans,” said Rajesh Shah V in the defeat of his team.
Rakesh Kumar veteran was realistic about the reasons why your team lost to Telugu Titans tonight: “We were poor in both departments of attack and defense tonight, but we fought until the last minute We must learn from this loss, because we 10 games left to do. a return and this is not the end. Ravi Dalal and I have had a difficult start to the tournament, but this is only the beginning, and the team will return with force. I’m working hard every day and so is my team.
“We need the support and faith of our Patna fans to move on and get better results. Today, we are in talks with the Kabaddi Federation in Bihar to carry out actions that elevate the sport of kabaddi in the state.”
The star player Telugu Titans, Sukesh Hegde was very excited about transcendental performance of his team in the season 2 so far, “I’m proud of the team and the work they put into this game to win today. We enjoyed playing in Patna and they are looking forward to our meeting tomorrow in Bangalore Bulls “.
Regarding the replacement of Rahul Chaudhari early in the game, Sukesh was grateful for the efforts of Rahul in Season 2 so far. “Yes, he was replaced for a while now, but he is an amazing player. Any player has its good and bad day and unfortunately today was not his day.”
