PKL 10: Puneri Paltan defeat Telugu Titans by a massive 36-point margin

Noida (U.P), Jan 1 (IANS) Mohit Goyat did the star turn as Puneri Paltan defeated bottom-placed Telugu Titans by a whopping 36 points in the Pro Kabaddi League Season 10 match at the Noida Indoor Stadium on Monday.  Abinesh Nadarajan and Gaurav Khatri registered High 5s as Puneri Paltan produced a kabaddi masterclass to win the match 54-18. 

Telugu Titans were bolstered by captain Pawan Sehrawat’s return to the team, but he was tackled within eight seconds of the start of the game.

Puneri Paltan banked on their defence as Abinesh and Iran’s Mohammadreza Shadloui kept the opposition at bay. Telugu Titans' raiders found little success as the side trailed 6-7 mid-way into the opening half.

The Titans did well to stay within touching distance but were completely undone by a series of 3 raids. It began with a Super Raid from Mohit that saw Pawan, Hamid Nader and Nitin off to the bench and the next raid saw Shadloui trap Robin Chaudhary in an ankle hold.

The third raid was a mere formality as Prafull Zaware surrendered to Aslam Inamdar and Puneri Paltan inflicted the first All-Out. Their lead grew to seven points at 16-9.

Pawan’s men managed just one point in the last 5 minutes as Puneri Paltan ended the 1st half leading 23-10. There was more trouble in store for Telugu Titans as they faced an All-Out in the very 1st minute of the 2nd half and the gap between the teams grew further.

Puneri Paltan seized complete control of the game as Abinesh dished out tackles at will, while Aslam and Mohit offered the Telugu Titans defence no respite.

Pawan was off-colour through the game and Telugu Titans were on the receiving end of another All-Out right after Shadlou executed a strong dash to deny Pawan. Mohit swept through Telugu Titans’ defenders and Puneri Paltan led by a mammoth 28 points at 39-11 with 10 minutes left.

Puneri Paltan put on a masterclass as they went on to inflict a fourth All-Out five minutes later. Mohit won points in raid and defence as the scoreline read 48-13, with the men in orange leading by 35 points. Puneri Paltan went on to give their bench a chance and Aditya Shinde gave a good account of himself as his side wrapped up a massive win.

--IANS

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