Tamil Thalaivas hold their nerve to beat Puneri Paltan

In an enthralling game of kabaddi at the Shree Shivchhatrapati Sports Complex, Balewadi in Pune on Sunday, Tamil Thalaivas pulled off a thrilling 35-34 victory over Puneri Paltan to continue their march up the vivo Pro Kabaddi Season 9 table. Puneri Paltan's Aslam Inamdar (15 points) and Tamil Thalaivas' Narender (13 points) were the pick of the raiders. 

An incredible first half saw the two teams play at a relentless pace with almost every other raid resulting in a point. The Paltan's Aslam Inamdar and the Thalaivas' Narender traded blows almost constantly, exacting a point for point. While the partisan crowd screamed for their legendary captain Fazel Atrachali to get to the hallowed 400 tackle points mark, in reality, the Iranian was cautious. The Thalaivas went into the break leading 16-15.

The Thalaivas stormed out of the blocks in the second half, inflicting the first All-Out of the game. Narender's Super Raid caught out Atrachali, Abinesh Nadarajan, Sombir and Pankaj Mohite to extend their lead to 24-16.

From thereon, the game turned into a tactical battle with Puneri Paltan getting the touch points to chip away at the lead, but the Thalaivas did everything to ensure they didn't lose it entirely. At crucial moments, with three men on the mat, a couple of Super Tackles, the first by Himanshu on Inamdar and a second by Sagar on Mohit Goyat salvaged a certain All-Out.  

With five minutes on the clock, Puneri Paltan rallied to inflict their first All-Out of the game and closed the lead to four points at 30-34. A close game became tense and unpredictable with both teams wary of making even the most marginal of mistakes. In the end, on the last raid of the evening, an erroneous calculation by the Puneri Paltan bench meant the Thalaivas leading by one point, snuck the points home, silencing the crowd and keeping their recent unbeaten streak alive.

Top Performers

Puneri Paltan

Best Raider - Aslam Inamdar (13 Raid Points)

Best Defender - Sanket Sawant (3 Tackle Points)

Tamil Thalaivas

Best Raider - Narender (13 Raid Points)

Best Defender - Sagar (5 Tackle Points)

Where to watch vivo Pro Kabaddi Season 9 LIVE?

Catch all the LIVE action from vivo Pro Kabaddi Season 9 on the Star Sports Network and LIVE streaming on Disney+Hotstar.