Tamil Thalaivas snap winless run with victory over Jaipur Pink Panthers

Tamil Thalaivas brought an end to their 14-match winless run in vivo Pro Kabaddi Season 7 with a 35-33 win over Jaipur Pink Panthers at the Shaheed Vijay Singh Pathik Sports Complex in Greater Noida on Monday. Youngster V Ajith Kumar was once again the star of the match for them and finished with a Super 10.

The two teams matched each other blow-for-blow at the start with both sets of raiders enjoying plenty of success early on. Jaipur Pink Panthers then moved into a position of strength momentarily but a two-point raid by Tamil Thalaivas’ Himanshu and a Super Tackle from Sagar restored parity on the scoreboard.

Tamil Thalaivas built on their momentum thanks primarily to Ajith Kumar, who created all sorts of problems for Jaipur Pink Panthers’ defence. They inflicted an All-Out with a minute and a half left in the opening period and went into the break leading 19-14.

Jaipur Pink Panthers began the second half better but Ajith Kumar continued to be a thorn in the side of their defence. They looked to close the gap on Tamil Thalaivas with successful raids from Lokesh Kaushik, Deepak Narwal and Nilesh Salunke, while Vishal, Amit Hooda and Sandeep Dhull contributed points from defence.

Tamil Thalaivas though kept their composure and also scored their points on a consistent basis to stay in the lead. Successful raids by Rahul Chaudhari, Ajith Kumar and substitute Victor Obiero – who also contributed defensively – meant that Tamil Thalaivas had a 32-28 lead to protect with less than two minutes to play.

However, a Super Raid by Jaipur Pink Panthers’ Guman Singh set up a nervy finish and reduced Tamil Thalaivas’ lead to 33-31 with 98 seconds left on the clock. A Super Tackle by Jaipur Pink Panthers then made it a one-point game, but a self-out by Salunke in his side’s last raid of the match gave Tamil Thalaivas the win.

Top Performers:

Tamil Thalaivas –

Best Raider – V Ajith Kumar (10 Raid Points)

Best Defender – Sagar (4 Tackle Points)

Jaipur Pink Panthers –

Best Raider – Deepak Narwal (8 Raid Points)

Best Defender – Amit Hooda (5 Tackle Points)