Bengal Warriors, playing its first match in the third edition of the ProKabaddi League, defeated Telugu Titans 25-17 at the Port indoor stadium here on Tuesday.
Bengal was well served by Services’ Nitin Tomar in the second half. Tomar made the most of Titans’ reluctance to tackle him, returning with touch points and even a bonus point, for a total of five in the second half.
Mahendra Ganesh Rajput too picked up points while Nilesh Shinde and left corner Girish Maruti were good in defence.
The first half saw both teams playing defensively. The lead changed hands often and the score was tied 9-9 at half-time.
Telugu Titans has settled down well, hence it was a big disappointment for the local fans to watch the team lose to Bengal Warriors which is still to gel as a team.
Titans’ star player Rahul Choudhury was off the court most of the time, and the task of scoring points fell to Rohit Biliyan, as Sukhesh Hedge could not make much headway.
Titans took the lead at 13-10 after Meraj Sheykh picked up two points in a raid but surrendered to Tomar who picked up points regularly and, with a lona, Warriors increased their lead and comfortably closed out the match.
Points position after first leg (played, won, lost, points): 1. Telugu Titans 4-2-2-11; Jaipur Pink Panthers 2-1-1-6; Bengal Warriors 1-1-0-5; Bengaluru Bulls 1-1-0-5; Patna Pirates 1-1-0-5; U Mumba 2-1-1-5; Puneri Paltan 1-0-1-1; Dabang Delhi 2-0-2-1.
