Telugu Titans outclass Dabang Delhi in their opening match
RAHUL CHAUDHARI LED TELUGU TITANS to an impressive win over Dabang Delhi in their encounter of the Pro Kabaddi League at the NSCI, in Mumbai. It was a standout performance from the team from down South as it fired on all cylinders what with every member pulling his weight. The Iranians were simply outstanding with Meraj Shaikh sending a warning to all with his grand all-round display and Hadi Oshtorak also showing glimpses of his power and technique. There was a little concern as Hadi went out with an injury during a tackle, but that happens in Kabaddi. To add to the Delhi side’s woes even Deepak Hudda and Sukesh Hegde fired to give their side, a 36-27 victory.
Delhi were never expected to put a fight as they lacked quality raiders though Rohit strove manfully to lend support to Kashiling Adake. The tall boy from Maharashtra hogged the limelight in the second half with his scoring of bonus points but it was far too late as the Titans had got them all out by the beginning of the second half to amass a 26-14 lead. Dabang came up with three super tackles in addition to Kashiling’s bonus efforts to narrow down the margin to 34-23 but that was that.
The first half saw the Titans immediately get into their stride as Delhi Dabang’s Kashiling was trapped in the very first raid. Titans capitalized to gain a head start and got the Delhi side all out to lead 13-5 and extended the advantage to 18-8 by half time. The latter half belonged to Deepak Hudda who got two raiders out in two separate raids but the moment of the match was provided by Meraj Sheykh as he got three towards the end of the first half.
Meyraj was aptly named raider of the match and the inspiring defender award went to Rabinder Singh of Delhi.
To add to the motivation that Telugu Titans need to win the trophy, for every victory that they earn in Season 2 of Star Sports Pro Kabaddi, the franchise will sponsor 3 street children through their graduation and first jobs. This can only be described as an unprecedented step in making a difference to society through the sport of Kabaddi.
