Telugu Titans registered a much-needed victory, defeating Tamil Thalaivas 33-28 in the fifth Pro Kabaddi League in Mumbai on Thursday.
Sombir had a stellar performance in defence and scored 10 points to lead his team to victory.
It was the Titans' defence that scored almost half their points. Both teams were in search of a desperate win after a disappointing campaign so far.
Telugu Titans have lost eight games so far whereas Tamil Thalaivas have been defeated four times.
Tamil Thalaivas made a strong start and led 3-0 after four minutes as Ajay Thakur and Prapanjan scored raid points.
Telugu Titans opened their account in the fifth minute with a tackle point.
It was the Titans' defence which got them points as they levelled the match at 5-5 in the seventh minute. Farhad Milighardan scored Titans' first raid point as they led 6-5 after eight minutes.
It was an evenly fought contest for the next few minutes as both teams exchanged raid and tackle points with Telugu Titans leading 11-9 in the 18th minute.
Rahul Chaudhari struggled for Titans but their defence kept them ahead in the match. Telugu Titans went into the break leading 12-10.
The second half began with Telugu Titans inflicting an all out in the 23rd minute to lead 17-12. Rahul was kept quiet by the Thalaivas defence. It was 20-14 in favour of Titans as Prapanjan was sent to the bench in 29th minute.
Thakur scored with a successful raid in the 33rd minute as Thaliavas cut the lead to just three points. It looked like Titans would run away with the match but Thakur was in good raiding form. Thaliavias scored 10 points in five minutes to trail 26-28 in the 37th minute.
Thalaivas reduced the deficit to just one point as they trailed 28-29 with two minutes to go. Rahul then scored a crucial raid point in the 39th minute as Titans led 31-28.
Two tackle points in the last minute ensured that Titans won 33-38 in the end.
(With inputs from PTI)
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