Telugu Titans defeated debutants Tamil Thalaivas 32-27 in the opening match of the Pro Kabaddi League (PKL), which got underway at a nearly-full Gachibowli Indoor Stadium in Hyderabad on Friday.
Captain Rahul Chaudhari set the tone early for the hosts who raced to an 18-11 lead by half-time. In total, Rahul bagged as many as 10 points.
Nilesh Salunke was another star performer for the winning side earning seven points out of his 14 raids.
Vishal Bhardwaj (five points) and Farhad Milaghardan (4) kept a check on the rival team's star raiders Ajay Thakur (6) and K Prapanjan (7).
Initially, the match was in the balance, with both teams at 3-3. But Rahul's power, agility and intelligence enabled points after points for Telugu.
At 8-7, Prapanjan's double in a raid steered Telugu to a strong position, with the opponents facing the danger of all out – which ultimately happened two raids later.
This led to the visitors fall behind by seven points and after the break, Salunke starred for Telugu. His attack to the left, especially, paid dividends, as he and his team reaped the handsome win.
Prapanjan did his best with three points in second raids with three minutes to go but it was not enough.
C Arun (four points) was also another key performer for Tamil side.
(With inputs from IANS)
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