An outstanding all-round efficiency by the Gujarat Giants noticed them earn their first victory of the 2022 Professional Kabaddi League on the Shree Kanteerava Indoor Stadium in Bengaluru. The Giants, bolstered by Rakesh’s 15 factors, beat Puneri Paltan 47-37 within the remaining recreation of the evening.
A hesitant begin by each groups noticed the Giants draw back into the lead, courtesy of Rakesh’s fixed success on the raids. Regardless of not getting many contact factors, Puneri Paltan’s raiders saved their workforce inside touching distance via bonus factors.
All of it got here aside for the Paltan quickly sufficient although, Rakesh catching out each the Iranian defenders within the Puneri line-up in consecutive raids, to ascertain an emphatic lead. The final Paltan man on the mat, Aslam Inamdar was caught whereas raiding because the Giants initiated the primary all out of the sport to take a five-point lead at 16-11.
That each one out galvanised the sluggish Paltan workforce into motion. Their captain Fazel Atrachali was on the forefront of the resurgence, his ankle maintain on Rakesh, after which a subsequent one on Chandran Ranjit meant the Giants misplaced their two lead raiders within the area of two minutes. On the different finish, Inamdar had chipped away on the lead too. The Giants went into halftime main at 19-17.
Paltan began the second half the place they’d left off the primary, hacking away on the Giants’ lead and their confidence continually. Quickly sufficient, they initiated their first all out and with it took the lead for the primary time at 22-21.
The turning level got here with Giants’ raider Rakesh catching Atrachali out on a raid, midway via the second half. Minutes after that, the Giants had initiated their second all out of the match to retake the lead.
An excellent raid by Rakesh — catching out Atrachali, Balasaheb Jadhav and Mohit Goyat — led to a different all out with 5 minutes of the sport left, and the Giants took a close to unassailable lead at 43-31. It was one they held on to, as they took their first victory of the season.