Telugu Titans were handed their second defeat in as many games as the hapless home teams were crushed by Southern rivals Tamil Thalaivas , 39-26 at the Gachibowli Indoor Stadium, Hyderabad.
The dynamic duo of Rahul Chaudhari and Manjeet Chhillar were the architects of the victory, winning a Super 10 and High 5 respectively. While Rahul Chaudhari was immense against his old side, Manjeet showed just why he is the most feared, and the top scoring defender in the league.
Rahul Chaudhari began on the frontfoot, winning a point is his first raid itself. Telugu Titans then forced a super tackle in the early minutes to trail by only a point with the score reading 3-4. The raiders then became watchful as the remaining part of the first 10 minutes saw the teams just score four-points-a-piece with the match even at the quarter stage.
It was then the Rahul Chaidhari show, and “showman” as he is called, inflicted Titans’ first all-out in the 16th minute to stretch Thalaivas’ lead to 9 points. There was no looking back and Thalaivas ended the half with an improved, ten-point lead against their derby rivals.
Though Telugu tried to crawl back into the game, the Thalaivas defence was in fine touch and kept Siddharth Desai out for over a quarter of the match. The lead was now down to 8 points with Thalaivas going strong at 25-17.
It was the Manjeet Chhillar show then with the all-rounder displaying his tackling moves, right from the double thigh hold to the famous dash, forcing Telugu to drop further back in the game.
Soon, Manjeet completed his High 5, and then had his sixth point in the matter of minuted to put Thalaivas in cruise control of the game. Soon, Rahul completed his Super 10, a feat that took him four games in Pro Kabaddi Season 6, and Thalaivas had put their stamp on the game.
The match ended disappointingly for the Titans as they slumped to their second defeat in as many days and games and the Men in Yellow looked down and out. The worst part for the Titans is that there has been no real positive apart from Rajnish. Titans would need to regather their thoughts and come back stronger in the next games.
Top Performers:
Tamil Thalaivas –
Best Raider – Rahul Chaudhari (10 Raid Points)
Best Defender – Manjeet Chhillar (6 Tackle Points)
Telugu Titans –
Best Raider – Siddharth Desai (5 Raid Points)
Best Defender – Vishal Bhardwaj (3 Tackle Points)
