Bengal Warriors gave a heart break to their fans when they blew away a golden opportunity of winning a game against Telugu Titans in the last few seconds to settle for a draw that they didn’t deserve after a stunning comeback in match 40 of Pro Kabaddi season 4. A nerve wrecking tie saw the Korean Jang Kun Lee become the hero who blew it all in the final few seconds as he conceded an unnecessary point on the buzzer raid to Titans’ skipper Rahul Chaudhari who helped his team level the score to tie the match. Apart from his last second jailbreak, Chaudhari was among points too along with his fellow raider Nilesh Salunkhe. The highest scorer of the day, though, was Jang Kun Lee.
Warriors started the game in the best possible note and raced to a 3 point lead with Titans still to open their account. Nilesh Salunkhe also opened the account for his team with 2 points. But, on his next raid, Salunkhe got a tackle from the other Nilesh in the match - Nilesh Shinde. And the match was on.
The Warriors had kept the charismatic Rahul Chaudhari quiet in the first seven minutes and he even failed to get points for the team in the do or die raid in the eighth minute. But the skipper wasn't to be kept quiet for too long and came into the act when he took out the only two remaining Warriors off the mat and inflicted the first All out of the game to grab 4 points. The Titans had suddenly a sizeable seven point lead.
Nilesh Salunkhe, often overshadowed by Chaudhari's brilliance, was proving more difficult for the Warriors defence to keep quiet. Salunkhe sneaked the important bonus points apart from the touch points for his team. That proved to be the main reason for Titans being able to keep a safe distance from the Warriors for the whole of the first half. In the defence, Sandeep Narwal kept the Titans ahead in the contest with his strong tackles. Once Jang Kun Lee was taken care of, there was not a single Warriors raider who troubled the Titans defence valiantly guarded by two Sandeeps.
With not more than 30 seconds left for the halftime, Vishal Mane produced a super tackle that reminded of his days with U Mumba as he foiled another raid attempt by Chaudhari to help Bengal inch back into the contest. At the half time whistle, the Titans were ahead of the Warriors by 5 points, a lead that could be said to be tricky at best, as all results looked possible despite the scales tilted in Titans favor.
Half Time: Bengal Warriors 14 – 19 Telugu Titans
Vishal Mane started the second half right from where he finished the first and got the team points with some fine tackles to further bridge the gap on scoreline. After 26 minutes, what looked like Titans match to win in the first half had again come in balance as Warriors equalised. The crowd favorite Jang Kun Lee then earned some more love of Kolkatans when he did a Rahul Chaudhari as he took off two Titans defenders to inflict an all out on the men in yellow. The joy and the lead both didn't last too long as Nilesh Salunkhe helped Titans equalise and the score read 27-27 with 10 minutes to go. The crowd could sense they had a thriller on hand as both the teams cut down on aggression to start a tactical warfare in the last 10 minutes.
From there on, it looked like a battle between Rahul Chaudhari and Jang Kun Lee, for both the raiders had hit the peak of their game. The acrobatic Lee then produced the moment of the day when he leapt over the head of a Titan defender and left the Titans defence chasing shadows to take his point tally to 9. Nilesh Salunkhe, however, proved to be the dark horse as he beat Chaudhari and Lee to a super 10 in the 37th minute to give his team a one point lead. The lead didn't stand even for seconds as the Warriors were awarded a technical point. The Korean then celebrated his super 10 by making a super raid that put his team in front.
With no team managing to keep on to the lead for more than a minute, all results looked possible with 60 seconds left in the game. But that’s when Jang Kun Lee did an Allan Donald of 1999 World Cup impersonation and unsuccessfully chased Rahul Chaudhari on the buzzer raid to see his heroics go in vain as Titans managed to score the point that drew the game.
Full Time: Bengal Warriors 34 – 34 Telugu Titans
