PKL 2017: Haryana Steelers, Tamil Thalaivas play out tie; Gujarat Fortunegiants outclass Telugu Titans

New Delhi: On the second day of newly-introduced Inter Zone Challenge Week, Haryana Steelers and Tamil Thalaivas played out a thrilling tie even as Gujarat Fortunegiants outclass Telugu Titans in their respective 2017 Pro Kabaddi League (PKL) matches today at The Arena, Ahmedabad.

In the day's first match, Steelers and Thalaivas shared the spoils after playing a 25-25 tie. Thalaivas looked to capitalise on their new-found form as they took on league's most formidable side.

Prapanjan scored seven raid points for Thalaivas whereas Surender Nada scored seven points for Steelers. It was an evenly matched contest in the true sense as both teams scored equal raid and tackle points.

Surjeet Singh opened Haryana Steelers account with a successful raid in the first minute of the encounter. Prapanjan scored with a raid in the second minute as Tamil Thalaivas trailed 1-2. A couple of empty raids followed as Wazir Singh made it 4-2 for Steelers in the third minute.

Thalaivas scored three points in succession to lead 5-4 after five minutes. Haryana Steelers responded in equal measure to lead 7-5 in the eighth minute.

Ajay Thakur had a quiet first half for Tamil Thalaivas as they trailed 7-9. Both teams' defence was looking good in the first half as the bulk of the points came from tackles.

Tamil Thalaivas levelled the match at 10-10 in the 18th minute as Dong Geon Lee made a successful raid. Surender Nada had a splendid first half for Steelers and scored six points. Haryana Steelers ended the first half leading 13-10.

Tamil Thalaivas started the second half brightly and inflicted the first all out of the match in the 24th minute to lead 17-14.

Vikas Kandola made a successful raid for Haryana Steelers to reduce the gap to two points. Prapanjan scored with a two- point raid in the 26th minus as Thalaivas led 19-16.

With less than 10 minutes to go, Haryana Steelers tried to mount a comeback and trailed 19-20 in the 32nd minute. Prapanjan scored his seventh raid point of the match as Thalaivas led 21-19 after 33 minutes.

It was neck and neck as Tamil Thalaivas led 22-21 in the 35th minute. Vikas Kandola levelled the game at 22-22 with less than five minutes to go.

Haryana Steelers led in the match for the first time after first half as they made it 23-22 in 37th minute.

Thalaivas came back to lead 24-23 in the 38th minute. Ashish Chhokar made it 25-24 for Haryana Steelers with a raid in the penultimate minute.

Dong Geon Lee levelled the match at 25-25 with a raid for Thalaivas.

In the second match at the same court, Zone A team Fortunegiants outclassed Titans 29-18 in a lopsided contest to further strengthen their top spot in the group standings.

For Fortunegiants, Sachin (10 points) continued his fine form from the previous matches along with defenders Fazel Atrachali (3 points) and Abozar Mighani (4 points) to help their side win by 11-point margin and register their fifth consecutive win on a trot in home leg.

While Titans displayed a failed all-round show, with substitute Vinoth Kumar (4 points) and defender Vishal Bharadwaj (2 points) being the key performers for their side.

After initial empty raids from both the sides, Vikas broke the deadlock for Telugu Titans taking a two-point advantage off his successful tackle.

But soon, the Hyderabad outfit looked to have lost momentum in the match which resulted in back-to-back empty raids and failed tackles.

For the Gujarat-based outfit, skipper Sukesh Hedge and Sachin pulled one points a piece from their successful raids to bring back the home side on level terms and further give them a 5-3 advantage in the seventh minute of the match.

Sachin maintained his speed, agility and movement to pull off a super raid to further strengthen the home side`s position, taking a massive 14-3 lead with less than nine minutes to play in the first-half.

The home side also looked strong on their defence disallowing the opposition to break free helping Gujarat take a massive 20-7 lead in the first-half.

The second-half began with Titans captain Rahul Chaudhari pulling out some successful raid points, along with defender Vishal Bharadwaj and Sombir combining well to narrow the points margin through their successful tackles but failed to take the lead.

While for Fortunegiants, Sachin continued his fine form to complete a Super 10 from his successful raids. Defenders Abozar Mighani and Fazel Atrachali too kept on picking vital tackle points inside their half to keep the scoreboard ticking and maintain the lead for the home side.

(With Agency inputs)