Telugu Titans manage a win, at last

Mumbai: The beleaguered Telugu Titans managed to get their act together while posting a much-needed victory at NSCI SVP Stadium here on Thursday.

They did well to defeat debutant Tamil Thalaivas 33-28 in the Vivo Pro Kabaddi League.Doing the team proud was Sombir, who had a stellar performance in defence and also scored 10 points to lead his team to victory. It was the Titans’ defence that scored almost half their points. Both teams were in search of a desperate win after a disappointing campaign so far. Telugu Titans have lost eight games so far whereas Tamil Thalaivas have been defeated four times.

The Thalaivas made a strong start and led 3-0 after four minutes as Ajay Thakur and Prapanjan scored raid points. Telugu Titans opened their account in the fifth minute with a tackle point. It was the Titans' defence which got them points as they levelled the match at 5-5 in the seventh minute. Farhad Milighardan scored Titans' first raid point as they ed 6-5 after eight minutes.

It was an evenly fought contest for the next few minutes as both teams exchanged raid and tackle points with Telugu Titans leading 11-9 in the 18th minute. Rahul Chaudhari struggled for Titans but their defence kept them ahead in the match. Telugu Titans went into the break leading 12-10.

The second half began with Telugu Titans inflicting an all out in the 23rd minute to lead 17-12. Rahul Chaudhari was kept quiet by the Thalaivas defence.