Rahul Chaudari brushed aside any sentiments of having played six seasons for Telugu Titans, as he guided Tamil Thailavas to a 39-26 win late on Sunday night in a Vivo ProKabaddi League Season 7 league match.
Rahul scored a Super 10 to finish with 13 points and dominated proceedings in the company of an equally brilliant raider Ajay Thakur at the Gachibowli Indoor Stadium.
For a second consecutive match, the much-awaited show from Titans’ star raider Siddharth Desai was never really on. He was effectively countered by defender Manjeet Chhillar, who also completed 200 tackle points overall in the PKL. He also scored a High 5 to the dismay of Titans’ fans.
Thailavas scored two all-outs in the first-half and one more in the second even as many local fans displayed placards asking Rahul to return to Titans.
Earlier, Gujarat Fortunegiants scored a remarkable 42-24 win over defending champion Bengaluru Bulls. At half-time, Gujarat led 21-10. It was a revenge victory of sorts for Fortunegiants that lost to Bulls in last season’s final.
In the first-half Gujarat showed all-round superiority as it picked up points both in raids and tackles (it in fact had more points in tackles).
Fortunegiants also scored two all-outs in the first session itself and Bulls’ star raiders Pawan Sehrawat and Rohit Kumar were not given any kind of freedom in its territory. With Sachin, Rohit Gulia and G.B. More being dominant in attack, it was obvious that Bulls were under pressure. If Bulls hoped for a change of fortune in the second-half — like in last season’s final — it was misplaced as Sehrawat got ‘out’ seven times.
The results: Tamil Thailavas bt Telugu Titans 39-26; Gujarat Fortunegiants bt Bengaluru Bulls 42-24.
Monday’s matches: U Mumba vs Jaipur Pink Panthers (7.30 p.m.); Haryana Steelers vs Puneri Paltan (8.30 p.m.).
