 "Puneri Paltan vs Telugu Titans")
Puneri Paltan overturned a 13-point deficit to beat UP Yoddhas 40-38 and finish at the top of the points table in the Pro Kabaddi League on Wednesday.
Yoddhas' raider Gagana Gowda turned out to be the star with 16 raid points, while Pankaj Mohite was Paltan's top-scorer, securing 12 raid points.
The Yoddhas were the better team in the opening 20 minutes, as Gowda led the charge with an exquisite 'Super Raid', getting the better of Mohammadreza Shadloui Chiyaneh, Abinesh Nadarajan and Vahid Reza Eimehr. The raid gave the Yoddhas a 5-1 lead in the third minute, growing only further.
Gulveer Singh then came up with a two-point raid, as the Yoddhas inflicted an 'All Out' in the eighth minute to lead 12-7.
The Paltan struggled to get any momentum, with just two tackle points in 13 minutes, while the opposition was leading 18-10.
Gowda proved his worth again in the 15th minute with a superb five-point 'Super Raid', wiping out the Paltan defence and steering the Yoddhas to a 24-13 lead.
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The UP-based side dominated proceedings in the opening half, ending with a 13-point lead at 28-15.
The Paltan earned support from the bench, with Aslam Inamdar and Sanket Sawant being brought on, while Mohite went berserk early in the second half.
Mohite came up with a brilliant two-point raid, completing his 'Super 10' and reducing the Yoddhas to a man. '
The Paltan bagged an 'All Out' in five minutes, reducing their deficit from 13 to just six at 24-30.
The Paltan switched gears with the opposition down to three men again in the 30th minute as Shadloui halted Gulveer with an iron-clad ankle hold.
Aslam struck soon after as the Pune-based side brought up another 'All Out' in the 34th minute, with Sumit being tackled by Abinesh.
The scoreline read 35-34 in Paltan's favour, with this being the first time that they were leading in the meet.
The Yoddhas took a late lead with less than three minutes to go, as Gowda secured another multi-point raid.
However, it was not meant to be for them as Aslam levelled the scores with a two-pointer, and Shadloui's tackle on Mahipal sealed the success for the Paltan, completing their 17th win of the season and heading into the playoffs as the top-ranked side.
(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
