Rakesh propels Gujarat to nail-biting victory over Thalaivas

CHENNAI: Despite a brief setback near the end of the game, Gujarat Giants defeated Tamil Thalaivas 33-30 at the SDAT Multipurpose Indoor Stadium in the Pro Kabaddi League Season 10 match on Wednesday. Rakesh (9 points), Sombir (4 points) and Fazal Atrachali (3 points) were the standout players for the Giants, while Ajinkya Pawar’s 11 points came in a losing cause. The game was the last one in the Chennai leg, as the league moves to Noida next. The next leg will begin on Friday.

In an early win for the Thalaivas, Ajinkya Pawar came out firing on all cylinders and managed to take out Fazel Atrachali twice in the opening 10 minutes of the game. Despite that though there was nothing to separate the sides at the start, as they matched each other raid for raid.

However, the Giants seized control of the game a few moments later. A SUPER TACKLE by Manoj on a rampant Himanshu Singh started a domino effect. Within a minute of his first raid of the game, Parteek Dahiya picked up a SUPER RAID taking out Sahil Gulia, M Abishek and Amirhossein Bastami to put the Giants in control. They went into the break leading by three points.

A high-paced second half was played out mostly on the raid, with Pawar and Rakesh constantly keeping the scoreboard ticking for their respective sides. The Giants’ defence rallied together soon to reduce the home team’s numbers and the first ALL OUT came in due course to extend them into a 24-18 lead.

The final minutes of the game saw some brilliant play, with Narender’s raid to take out Atrachali and his compatriot Mohammad Nabibakhsh bringing the partisan crowd to its feet. That raid had drawn the Thalaivas close to the Giants’ score. With two minutes left though, a Sombir SUPER TACKLE put the Giants back in control of the game. They ran the clock down easily to take the win in the end.

RESULTS: Jaipur Pink Panthers 32 tied with Dabang Delhi 32; Tamil Thalaivas 30 lost to Gujarat Giants 33