Pro Kabaddi League 2017: Haryana Steelers edge past Telugu Titans; Jaipur Pink Panthers win first game at home

Jaipur: Haryana Steelers edged out Telugu Titans 32-30 in a thrilling encounter of the Pro Kabaddi Season 5 contest at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium on Saturday.

Wazir Singh’s critical raid in the 40th minute proved to be the difference as Telugu Titans are now in real danger of not making it to the super playoffs. Singh scored 14 points for Haryana Steelers.

Rahul Chaudhari (11) and Nilesh Salunke (10) combined in unison to score 21 points for Telugu Titans but fell short in the end.

Haryana Steelers are second in Zone A with 69 points from 20 matches. Telugu Titans are fourth in Zone B with 49 points from 21 matches.

Haryana Steelers were the stronger team in the first half with Wazir Singh and Surjeet Singh in fine raiding form. The first all out of the match was inflicted in the 12th minute by Haryana Steelers to lead 13-6.

Rahul Chaudhari scored his first raid point in the 13th minute as Telugu Titans trailed 8-13. Nilesh Salunke scored the bulk of raid points for Telugu Titans in the first 10 minutes.

The defence of both teams had a quiet first half as Haryana Steelers scored just one and Telugu Titans scored just two tackle points in the first 14 minutes. Nilesh Salunke got three more points with two raids for Telugu Titans in the 20th minute.

Haryana Steelers went into the break leading 16-11.

Both teams kept picking points in the first five minutes of the second half as Haryana Steelers led 19-14. Haryana Steelers maintained their lead for most of the second half as they led 24-18 in the 32nd minute. The Steelers defence had a quiet game as they managed to score just one tackle point in 34 minutes.

In the second match of the day, the home team, Jaipur Pink Panthers got a morale-boosting victory as they beat U Mumba 36-32.

Their star men – Jasvir Singh (9) and Manjeet Chhillar (6) – produced when it mattered as they combined to score 15 points.

U Mumba failed to get going in the second half and paid the price as their hopes of qualifying for super playoffs are now in jeopardy. Kashiling Adake scored seven points for U Mumba whereas Anup Kumar chipped in with six.

U Mumba are fourth in Zone A with 55 points rom 20 matches. Jaipur Pink Panthers are fifth with 50 points from 17 matches.

The first half saw the pendulum swing both ways as both teams enjoyed a period of domination but were evenly matched. Jaipur Pink Panthers were quick off the blocks as they led 4-1 after three minutes.

U Mumba fought back in the next couple of minutes to trail 5- 6 after five minutes. Jaipur Pink Panthers led by the solid Manjeet Chhillar once again opened a three-point gap to lead 10-7 in the ninth minute.

Kashiling Adake got U Mumba back in the match with two successive raids as they 11-10 after 12 minutes. U Mumba forced an all out in the 13th minute to lead 16-10.

Jaipur Pink Panthers then launched a comeback as they scored five points without conceding any to trail 15-16 at the end of the first half. Manjeet Chhillar got a high five in the first half for Jaipur Pink Panthers.

Jaipur began the second half strongly as they inflicted an all out in the 22nd minute to lead 20-16. U Mumba were struggling to get points on board as in the first seven minutes of the second half Jaipur scored 12 points compared to U Mumba’s 4.

Jasvir Singh got another raid point in the 28th minute as Jaipur Pink Panthers led 28-20. Jaipur inflicted another all out in the next minute to lead 31-21.

Shrikant Jadhav scored a raid point in the 33 rd minute as U Mumba trailed 24-32.

With less than five minutes to go Jaipur Pink Panthers held a nine point lead as they were ahead 34-25. Manjeet Chhilar got another tackle point in the 38th minute as Jaipur led 35-27.

With inputs from IANS