HMT Colony Boys emerged champions of the inaugural Red Bull Tashan Kabaddi tournament on Saturday.
In the final at the Play Arena, HMT staged a superb comeback to edge Classic Nationals 30-28.
Down 12-18 at the break, HMT, on the back of impressive performances from raiders Arun Kumar HN and Madhu R, roared back to score 18 points in contrast to National’s 10 in the second period, to secure the game in their favour.
HMT will now get the chance to train with the Pro-Kabaddi league team Bengaluru Bulls.
Nationals started brightly and were cruising ahead with Yashwanth, Prakash and Goving running the show. HMT, on the other hand, were struggling to contain their powerful raids. Predictably, HMT found themselves lagging behind by six points by half-time. However, they came out a different side after the change of ends and kept pressing for points. Their efforts soon yielded dividends as they managed to cut the lead to one point (25-26) five minutes before time.
Naveen then came out with a fine raid to bring HMT on level terms (26-26). It was Arun’s show from then on as he produced two brilliant raids to take his team ahead (29-27).
With the game nearing its end, HMT’s defence came to the fore as they reacted superbly to grab hold of Govind, who desperately tried to get his team back on track, to end all hopes of a comeback.
Results: Semifinals: HMT Colony Boys bt National SC 39-24; Classic Nationals bt YFA Jaraganahalli 44-23.
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