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Pro Kabaddi 2017: Tired Telugu Titans taken apart by debutants UP Yoddha
August 2, 2017
An all-round show helped UP Yoddha begin Pro Kabaddi season 5 with a 31-18 win over Telugu Titans. The Rahul Chaudhari-led side slipped to a third successive and rather embarrassing defeat in front of their home crowd.
Written by Rohit Mundayur
If there was one glaring difference between UP Yoddha and Telugu Titans that we had to pick out as we saw the two go at each other on Tuesday, it was this – the former was a team, the latter was one tired man trying to pull a train. Off the 18 points scored by the Titans, Chaudhari scored seven through raid points. Three players in his teams couldn’t register a point at all. On the other hand, every single player scored for UP Yodha, with Nitin Tomar leading the charge with six which helped them secure a 31-18 win over the hosts in Hyderabad.
Tomar is the man carrying the burden of being the most expensive player in the league. He was also the one who made the first raid of the match and it turned out to be a successful one. His team were easily the better side in the for the rest of the first half but the scoreline reflected an even competition and that was largely thanks to Chaudhari’s efforts.
But, save for the break on Monday, Telugu Titans have been playing continuously now for six days. It seems the burnout of that effort started taking its toll on their captain. His movement was sluggish for a good part of the of the first half after the initial burst. Despite this, the score at half time was 11-12 in favour of UP Yodhas.
In the second half, UP’s superiority started becoming more apparent. Tomar was helping with the defending and attacking efforts. Rishank Devadiga took the charge in the raiding department and substitute Surender Singh scored a Super Raid in the 27th minute. A minute later, Titans are all out and the scoreline read 14-23 in favour of UP Yoddha. The away side then held their nerves as a tired Rahul tried to get his team at least close to where the opponents are. In the end, Telugu Titans slipped to a third successive and rather embarrassing defeat in front of their home crowd.
