PKL: Stellar Sagar helps Tamil Thalaivas decimate Telugu Titans in Southern Derby

Sagar
needed
very
little
help
from
his
teammates
as
he
single-handedly
kept
the
Titans
raiders
quiet
in
the
Southern
Derby.
Sahil
Gulia
in
the
left
corner
picked
up
4
points
while
raiders
Ajinkya
Pawar
(10
points)
and
Manjeet
(9
points)
excelled
in
the
one-sided
victory.

Telugu
Titans
were
once
again
without
sufficient
quality
across
the
mat.
The
absence
of
Siddharth
Desai
and
Rajnish
cost
them
dearly
as
they
remained
with
just
one
win
in
the
season.
Thalaivas’ win
–
their
second
in
as
many
matches
–
will
give
them
much-needed
confidence
in
their
pursuit
of
a
playoff
spot.

Defence
dominated
the
early
minutes
of
the
Southern
Derby
with
both
sides
not
giving
an
inch.
The
Telugu
Titans,
despite
just
having
one
win
in
the
season
so
far,
were
in
no
mood
to
let
Thalaivas
settle.
Sandeep
Kandola
and
Akash
Choudhary
were
cautious
in
the
corners
for
the
Titans
while
Sagar
was
insatiable
in
the
Thalaivas’ left
corner.
The
game
shifted
in
balance
towards
the
Tamil
team
in
the
15th
minute
when
Manjeet
scored
a
3-point
Super
Raid.

That
helped
Thalaivas
clinch
an
ALL
OUT
and
open
an
8-point
lead.
Things
got
worse
for
the
Titans
who
saw
their
captain
Rohit
Kumar
limp
out
with
a
suspected
knee
injury.
By
the
end
of
the
first
half,
Thalaivas
raced
to
a
12-point
lead
with
the
scores
22-10.

Sagar
raced
to
a
High
5
as
Tamil
Thalaivas
slowed
the
pace
of
the
match
in
the
second
half.
They
knew
the
pressure
was
on
the
Titans
to
chase
and
the
Tamil
raiders
played
for
the
Do-or-Die
raids.

Rohit
Kumar
continued
to
be
on
the
mat
despite
visible
discomfort
to
his
knee.
The
pressure
put
by
Tamil
Thalaivas
worked
well
for
the
team
as
it
forced
Titans
to
commit
unnecessary
mistakes.
Sagar
moved
to
7
tackle
points
as
the
team
from
Chennai
opened
a
14-point
gap
with
10
minutes
on
the
clock.

Thalaivas
got
their
second
ALL
OUT
with
5
minutes
to
increase
the
lead
to
20
points.
Ajinkya
Pawar
clinched
his
Super
10
and
Sagar
moved
to
9
tackle
points
in
the
final
minutes
as
the
Tamil
team
went
on
to
seal
the
victory
in
the
Southern
Derby.

Source:
PKL