PKL 7: Tamil Thalaivas defeat Telugu Titans 39-26 in season's first southern derby

The Tamil Thalaivas trumped Telugu Titans by a margin of 39-26 in the first southern derby of the seventh edition of the Pro-Kabaddi League at the Gachibowli Indoor Stadium in Hyderabad. 

Rahul Chaudhari, who was representing the Thalaivas for the first time having featured for the Titans in all previous editions of the league, made his presence felt with a super 10. The Telugu Titans' defence failed to negotiate Chaudhari's supreme strength and agility with the player in supreme form during the clash. 

Manjeet Chhillar further chipped in with a high five as the Telugu Titans' recorded their second consecutive defeat in the tournament.    

One major factor which went against the Titans' was the inability of Siddharth Desai to deliver a commanding performance as the player managed to score just five raid points which was pretty underwhelming considering his standards. Desai further took six minutes to open his account. 

Rahul Chaudhari helped the Thalaivas open their account in the first minute which was followed by a super tackle by the Telugu Titans in the fourth minute. The contest looked evenly matched in the opening ten minutes as the Titans led 7-6. However, Shabeer Bapu helped the Thalaivas gain a steady advantage following a super tackle which was followed by a two-point raid. 

This was followed by a two-point raid by Rahul Chaudhari with a super raid in the 19th minute by Ajay Thakur, resulting in a 20-10 lead for the Thalaivas at the end of the first half.

The Tamil Thalaivas continued to dominate in the second half as Mohit and Manjeet Chhillar delivered an excellent performance in the Thalaivas' defence, keeping Siddharth Desai quiet.

The Thalaivas, who led 25-17 with less than 10 minutes to go in the second half, were further boosted by three consecutive successful raids by Rahul Chaudhari. Another all-out in the 36th minute helped ensure a comfortable win for the Tamil Thalaivas.