Puneri Paltan defeat Telugu Titans to move above them in the league’s standings

Puneri Paltan leapfrogged Telugu Titans in the vivo Pro Kabaddi Season 7 standings after a 34-27 win at the Thyagaraj Sports Complex in Delhi on Friday. Manjeet was Puneri Paltan’s best raider and finished with eight raid points, while Amit Kumar was their best defender with four tackle points.

Puneri Paltan began with a bang and raced into a 5-0 lead after some decisive raiding by Nitin Tomar and Manjeet. Telugu Titans responded with a couple of Super Tackles and picked up most of their points in the first half through tackles. They tied the contest at 7-7 in the eighth minute following their third Super Tackle of the match.

A fourth Super Tackle by Telugu Titans soon after then gave them a 9-7 lead before a fifth extended their advantage. Undeterred, Puneri Paltan stuck to their game plan and eventually made their numerical advantage on the mat count towards the end of the half. They inflicted an All-Out before halftime and then executed another successful raid moments later to take a 17-14 lead into the break.

The opening exchanges of the second period saw Tomar and ‘Baahubali’ Siddharth Desai scoring raid points for Puneri Paltan and Telugu Titans respectively. However, after being neck-to-neck for the first five minutes of the half, a Super Raid by Manjeet turned the tide of the game in Puneri Paltan’s favour and gave them a 25-19 lead.

Siddharth continued to look good in the second half and kept scoring raid points, but Puneri Paltan kept their resolve and defended in astute fashion. Meanwhile, Tomar and Manjeet kept scoring raid points at the other end of the mat to keep the scoreboard ticking.

Two Super Tackles by Telugu Titans in the last three minutes of the game narrowed the gap slightly. However, Puneri Paltan kept their composure and played the last few minutes of the match intelligently to register a seven-point victory.   

Top Performers:

Telugu Titans –

Best Raider – Siddharth Desai (7 Raid Points)

Best Defender – C. Arun (6 Tackle Points)

Puneri Paltan –

Best Raider – Manjeet (8 Raid Points)

Best Defender – Amit Kumar (4 Tackle Points)