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Telugu Titans exact revenge over Bulls

Bengaluru suffer third straight defeat of the season
Last Updated 12 July 2016, 19:14 IST

Telugu Titans exacted revenge for their home-leg defeat against the Bengaluru Bulls with a thumping 32-24 victory over the hosts in their Pro Kabaddi League tie here at the Sree Kanteerava Indoor Stadium on Tuesday.

The Bulls, in their first match of the season at home, struggled both in defence and attack and were outplayed by Titans, who scored a hat-trick of wins to jump to fourth spot in the table with 24 points.

The Bulls suffered their third straight defeat and slumped to sixth with 20 points from eight games.

Rohit Kumar, the most successful raider for the Bulls so far in the tournament, was kept quiet by the Titans and the star raider’s short bursts of brilliance wasn’t enough on the day for the Bulls to end on the winning side.

None of the other raiders stepped up to inspire the hosts’ attack as Titans called shots throughout the match. Bulls’ defence appeared toothless and never appeared like threatening the Titans attack.   

Skipper Rahul Chaudhari’s menacing run in the league continued as the Titans’ ace raider single-handedly outwitted the Bulls’ defence with some consistent smart raiding. Rahul, who was at his best at crucial junctures of the game, bagged nine points for his team.

The Titans asserted their dominance right away by racing to a 5-1 lead, with their defence showing first signs of strength. The visitors gained further control when they inflicted their first all-out at 7-1 to take a handsome 10-1 lead.

With their backs to the wall, the Bulls needed something special to come back in the game. At the stroke of half-time Rohit produced a brilliant raid,dodging the Titans defenders with a fine jump to get three crucial points. Titans though still had their nose in front, leading 16-10 at half-time.

Titans never allowed the Bulls to make a comeback, as the second-half too remained largely in control of the visitors.

Titans’ defence, marshalled by the duo of Jasmer Singh Gulia and Sandeep Dhull proved to be too good for the Bulls, who struggled to produce a collective effort.

Bulls’ bizarre strategy of falling back too much on their defence backfired as they failed to stop the Titans’ raiders from dominating them. With less than ten minutes to go, Titans led 27-16 and the visitors made sure there was no late fightback from the Bulls to clinch the tie.

Going into their next game on Wednesday against Jaipur Pink Panthers, the Bengaluru unit will have to find answers for their weak defence and will also need other raiders to fire to avoid too much pressure on Rohit.

Pune-Bengal draw parity
In the second match of the day, Puneri Paltan and Bengal Warriors were involved in a thrilling 34-34 tie.

Pune jumped to the top spot with 28 points.  

Tomorrow’s fixtures:
Men: Bengaluru Bulls vs Jaipur Pink Panthers (8:00 pm);
Women: Ice Divas vs Fire Birds (9:00 pm). 

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(Published 12 July 2016, 19:14 IST)

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