A spectacular victory for Telugu Titans. (Photo- PKL)
The Eliminator-3 match of the 12th season of Pro Kabaddi League (PKL) was an exciting match at Thyagaraj Indoor Stadium in Delhi. Telugu Titans booked their ticket to the semi-finals by defeating Patna Pirates 46-39 on the basis of star raider Bharat Hooda’s brilliant 23 points. This victory is historic for the Titans, because they have reached Qualifier-2 for the first time. Their next challenge will be against Puneri Paltan on Wednesday, and the winner of this match will have to play the final against Dabang Delhi on October 31.
Patna Pirates were thrown out
Even though the journey of Patna Pirates came to an end here, the team kept the fans engaged throughout the season with the magic of young raider Ayaan. Ayaan added 22 points in this match, making him the first player to score more than 300 raid points in the season. Overall, this achievement is the third in PKL history. Navdeep did wonders in Patna’s defence, with a high-5 he proved to be the most successful defender of the season. But Titans’ defense with 11 points left Patna’s 6 points behind, which became a big factor in the victory.
Telugu Titans’ resounding victory
The beginning of the match was explosive. Both the teams fought hard in the first four minutes, but Patna took a 6-3 lead over Ayaan’s Reds. They forced the Titans to be reduced to two players and then went ahead 10-5 on the basis of all out. However, the Titans soon responded. The defense tackled Ayaan again, and Bharat made it 9-11 with a multi-point raid. Meanwhile, on the first do-or-die raid, Ankit snatched two points, narrowed the gap to four and also revived Ayaan.
After the break of the first half, Ayaan took the historic 300th raid point of the season, but Shubham made him a victim in the next raid. Navdeep’s combination tackle brought Ayan back, but Patna’s lead was reduced to three. Bharat reduced it to two, and then the Titans got the first all out by forcing Patna into a super tackle. The score became 20-18. After the all-out, Ayaan started with multi-points, but Bharat kept adding points to take the lead 22-20 at halftime. In the second half, Titans made the second all out and took a strong hold of 30-20.
The excitement of the match increased in the last moments
However, a twist came in the last moments. Titans reached the brink of all out, and Patna capitalized on it and went ahead 32-37. Navdeep’s Hi-5 is also completed. After all out, Vijay stopped Ayaan with ankle hold, the lead remained intact at five points. But the Titans did not give up. By adding three consecutive points they went ahead 41-34. Ayan was revived, but Bharat stole two points on the next raid, score 43-35. Patna tried a super tackle, but Ayaan foiled it by dismissing Ajit. Patna increased the gap to five, but Bharat’s Super Raid secured the victory in the end by 46-39.