Pro Kabaddi League: Telugu Titans tame U Mumba

PUNE: Telugu Titans sent out a warning shot for their rivals by thrashing U Mumba 46-25 in their final league engagement of the Pro Kabaddi League at the Shiv Chhatrapati Sports Complex on Tuesday.
Powered by Bhupender Singh, who scored six points overall, the Titans put on a solid show in both raids and tackles to squeeze the life out of U Mumba. Having already qualified for the semifinals, both table toppers Mumba and second-placed Titans chose to rest their key players.
Titans' aggressive raids completely rattled a tentative Mumba who were all out in the first half by which time the Hyderabad franchise had built a lead of 15-9. Once on the back foot, Mumba were always playing catch up. Their desperate raids resulted only in the margin becoming wider and the Titans tightened their grip on the rivals, literally and figuratively.
"They (Mumba) played a balanced game initially . But we got three bogeys and their tackling failed," explained Titans' team manager K Jagmohan."After that, they had to go all out in their raids."
While Mumbai dearly missed Anup Kumar, Surender Nada and Mohit Chillar, their rivals were spectacular in all departments of the game. The two giants could meet once again in the knockouts, in the final in all probability.
Jagmohan said his team wasn't afraid of taking on Mumbai in their own den. "We are not worried at all. We have drawn them or beaten them at their home, although outside Mumbai we have lost to them," Jagmohan said.
Nevertheless, Titans, known for their aggressive raids, would be tempering their approach in the knockouts. "We have five raiders in our team. We have to be aggressive, but we have had some bitter experience," Jagmohan said. However, it's U Mumbai who will finish the league stage on top with 60 points -with a dozen wins and two losses -while the Titans will travel to Mumbai for the semifinals and finals (on August 21 & 23) as second best with 50 points from eight wins and three losses.
In the second match of the day, Patna Pirates condemned hosts Puneri Paltan to their 10th defeat with a 38-21 verdict.