Pro Kabaddi: Telugu Titans down Bengal for third win on trot

Kolkata: Riding on captain Rahul Chaudhari's superb last minute raid, Telugu Titans produced a spectacular recovery to snatch a victory from the jaws of defeat against Bengal Warriors for their third successive win in the Pro Kabaddi League at the Netaji Indoor Stadium here yesterday.

The hosts dominated the proceedings and led 16-10 at halftime but crumbled under pressure in the last minute as the Hyderabad franchise raced to a 31-30 before wrapping the issue 32-30. A third win from as many matches meant Telugu Titans held on to their second place in the table with 15 points, while Bengal Warriors logged one point to remain on fourth place with six points.

Deepak Nivas Hudda was the star for Hyderabad franchise as he had a super tackle to be adjudged Best Defender and he also had 11 raid points to log 14 in total. Chaudhari who led from the front to hand them a last gasp win accumulated four points including three from raids. Bengal's Korean recruit Jang Kun Lee stole the limelight with 12 raid points and was adjudged Best Raider but only to return on losing side.

Captain Dinesh Kumar and Lee brought Bengal Warriors back into the game displaying some fine raids. But the high point came when their solid defence once again stood out as they pinned down Hudda to level 6-6 before snatching their first lead. From 7-6, they never looked back and went all out to make it 10-7 before gaining a handsome six-point lead at halftime.

Sunil Jaipal produced a spectacular super raid 10 minutes into the second-half to make it 23-18 in favour of Bengal Warriors but the Hyderabad team did not give up easily and once again held them 26-26. Lee's super raid in the second half handed them a crucial 29-27 lead but unfortunately for the home side they could not
hold on and lost the battle.

Earlier, the visitors started on a positive note as Bengal struggled to get into the act in the first few minutes. Two successful raids by Deepak Nivas Hudda handed Hyderabad a 3-0 lead. Bengal once again relied on their defence to get back into the game tackling Meraj Sheykh in the sixth minute. The hosts had to rely on the duo of captain Dinesh Kumar and Korean recruit Jang Kun Lee to log some points and the duo did not disappoint holding Hyderabad 4-4.

However Bengal struggled to get into the lead with Hudda dishing out some smart raids. Before it could slip from Bengal's hands, the home side produced its best effort to knock down Hudda before snatching the lead, but only to crumble under pressure in the closing minute.