Jaipur Pink Panthers lose to Paltans in Pro Kabaddi League

Jaipur: Just a day after beating Bengaluru Bulls, Jaipur Pink Panthers lost the plot, going down 17-32 to Puneri Paltan in their second match of the home leg of Pro Kabaddi League here on Sunday.
Under lights at the SMS indoor, the Panthers were in the contest till the 27th minute when they were all-out for the first time. After that, the Pune team just ran away.
Egged on by a vociferous crowd at the nearly-full Sawai Mansigh Stadium's indoor hall, Panthers looked focused initially, keeping pace with their rivals. Since Jasbeer Singh, still nursing an injury, could not do justice to his role as a key Panthers player, the burden of the attack was on the shoulders of all-rounder Rajesh Narwal, who laid the foundation initially. He found an able foil in Deepak Hooda and Surendra Singh as the duo picked up points.
It was Manjeet Chillar and Ajay Thakur of the Paltans, who upset the rhythm of the home team as the duo sneaked into the rival den and marshalled their resources well. Although the Panthers fell behind by eight points at the break (8-16), they tried to stage a comeback, but poor finish put paid to their efforts.
Telugu Titans win: Earlier, Telugu Titans picked up their fifth win with a convincing 40-22 win over struggling Bengaluru Bulls. It was yet another disappointing day for the Bengaluru team as their star players failed to rise to the occasion in crunch time. Surjeet Narwal and Deepak Kumar of the Bulls tried their best to keep the scoreboard ticking. There was only a one-point difference in the initial moments and the Bulls seemed to control of the proceedings.
Bulls ,for whom this was the eighth defeat, stand at seventh place with 13 points and their chances of making it to the semi-finals are less.
The pressure affected both the sides and the Bulls caved in midway of the first session when they were down by three points (7-10). The Titans gradually got hold of things with their immaculate game plan and successive raids, which boosted their confidence further.
The Titans continued to spit fire and widened the lead by leaps and bounds. A super tackle just before the half time helped the Titans take an 18-10 point lead.
There was no let up in the Titans attack after the change of ends and star raider Rahul Chaturvedi and all rounder Meraj Sheykn continued their good work. The Bulls defense came up with a few good tackles but that was not enough as the rivals inflicted more blows to narrow down the deficit. The Titans kept their nose ahead till the dying minutes leaving the Bulls exhausted.