Controversial Decision in TAM vs GUJ Match:- A huge moment came in the game between Tamil Thalaivas and Gujarat Fortunegiants in the second half when the score was neck-to-neck. Moments after the time-out where Manpreet Singh gave his team a motivation talk, Gujarat seemed to have a different energy to their play. The clock was running down and Gujarat Fortunegiants had got themselves in touching distance. With about 4 minutes to go on the clock, Rohit Gulia went in for a raid, but just when he thought of picking up speed to get a touch, the Thalaivas defence dodged his touch which saw his momentum take him into the lobby without a touch. The action saw Rohit Gulia being given out. However, seemingly, three of the Thalaivas defenders too got into the lobby, which agitated the Gujarat Fortunegiants coach Manpreet Singh, who demanded the expulsion of all three of the Thalaiavs defenders. The referees did change their initial decision, but gave only 1 defender out, which saw Tamil Thaliavas earn 2 points for the super tackle, while Gujarat Fortunegiants were awarded 1 point with 1 Tamil Thalaivas defender given out.
Manpreet was seen shouting and claiming all three were out, which seemed to be the case in the initial look, which would have meant Tamil Thalaivas would have been out and they would have an extra 4 points.
The score then stood at 19-22 and after the decision, moved to 20-24 in the favour of Thalaivas, however, if Manpreet was to be believed, the score might have read 24-24, with Gujarat Fortunegiants getting the all-out points as well as three points for raiders going into the lobby without a touch.
Gujarat still came back in the game strongly, but a 3-point raid from Ajay Thakur changed the tide of the game, with Thalaivas eventually winning the game comfortably by a scoreline of 28-34.
The decision was a contentious one, and probably the one that defined the game.
Gujarat Fortunegiants are now in a spot of bother having gone down for third straight game, having won all of their initial three games. They would need to bounce back strongly if they are to stay in the reckoning and qualify for the play-offs.
Top Performers:
Gujarat Fortunegiants –
- Top Raider – Rohit Gulia (9 Raid Points)
- Top Defender – Sunil Kumar (6 Tackle Points)
Tamil Thalaivas –
- Top Raider – Ajay Thakur (9 Raid Points)
- Top Defender – Mohit Chhillar (5 Tackle Points)
