Gujarat Fortunegiants’ raiders took the game down to the wire before leading their team to a thrilling 29-27 victory over Telugu Titans in a tense match at the Rajiv Gandhi Indoor Stadium in Vizag on Friday. K. Prapanjan scored a Super 10 while Sachin returned with 9 raid points to give Gujarat Fortunegiants a two-point victory.

Gujarat Fortunegiants gained an early advantage in the game as Sachin helped them to a 3-2 lead. The home side got their first lead in the 6th minute with their first touch point of the game as Rahul Chaudhari got a touch on Ruturaj Koravi to put Telugu Titans 4-3 up.

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Chaudhari reached 100 raid points for the season in the 11th minute by way of a Super Raid that included touches on Parvesh Bhainswal and Sunil Kumar to go with a bonus. Facing a two-point deficit, Gujarat Fortunegiants rallied hard to regain the lead in the 16th minute.

A touch by K. Prapanjan on Anil Kumar reduced Telugu Titans to a solitary player on the mat before Ajay Kumar got a touch on Farhad Milaghardan off the very next raid to help Gujarat Fortunegiants inflict the first All-Out of the game in the final minute of the half. Trailing by six points, Nilesh Salunke ended the half on a strong note for the home side as he got a touch point with the final raid of the half. The scores read 17-12 in favour of Gujarat Fortunegiants at that point.

Telugu Titans, however, started the second half on the front foot as they got the first three points of the half to reduce the deficit to two points. A two-point raid by Sachin, however, ensured that Telugu Titans weren’t allowed to get complete control of the match.

With Gujarat Fortunegiants ahead by three points, Rakshith came in for his first raid of the game and got touches on Bhainswal and Sunil Kumar to reduce Gujarat Fortunegiants to two men on the mat. Telugu Titans’ persistence finally paid off after that as an Ankle Hold by Anuj Kumar on Sachin gave Telugu Titans their first All-Out of the game in the 13th minute and put them back into the lead by a solitary point as the scores read 24-23.

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Prapanjan completed his Super 10 in the 17th minute to bring the deficit down to one point as the scores read 26-25 in favour of the home team. Sachin got back into the action after that and reeled off two successive single-point raids to level the scores before Bhainswal’s Block on Rakshith in the 19th minute put Gujarat Fortunegiants ahead by a point. In the final raid of the game, Chaudhari was relentless in his pursuit of a point to tie the game but ran out of time before he could do so, giving Gujarat Fortunegiants the victory.

Top Performers

Telugu Titans

Best Raider: Rahul Chaudhari (7 raid points)

Best Defender: Rahul Chaudhari (1 tackle point)

Gujarat Fortunegiants

Best Raider: K. Prapanjan (10 raid points)

Best Defender: Parvesh Bhainswal (3 tackle points)