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The Haryana Steelers, who were having the time of their lives, had defeated the Bengal Warriors in their previous battle at the Pro Kabaddi League Season 7. They were looking for a victory to jump on to the third spot of the points' table.
Gujarat Fortune Giants had demolished Patna Pirates in their last match to finally see a favourable result after a long period of dullness. Sitting on the eighth position on the table, they needed to clinch a victory to improve their ranking.
Read to find out how the anticipated battle between Rakesh Kumar's Haryana Steelers and Manpreet Singh's Gujarat Fortune Giants unfolded itself at the Thyagaraj Sports Complex in New Delhi:
Vinay started for the Steelers and returned empty-handed. Opening the account for the Steelers, young prodigy Vikash Kandola stole a quick point. A brilliant two-pointer by the lanky Abolfazl began the flow of points for the Gujarat-based franchise.
Yet another two-point raid by the Mangalore-born Prashanth Kumar Rai put the Steelers in lead. An out-of-the-world super raid by Kandola inflicted an all-out on the Gujarati army under just 12 minutes.
The Fortune Giants looked hapless, with the duo of Sunil and Parvesh kept mum by the rivals. They clearly struggled without a main raider on the mat. Both Abolfazl and Ruturaj tried their level best to pitch in points for their squad.
A top-class raid by Prashanth sent both Sunil and Parvesh off the mat in no time. Coach Manpreet looked speechless with his team's performance. Both offense and defense of the Giants needed help to a great extent. At half-time, the score 20-11 was leaning in Haryana's favour.
As the other half kicked off, Koravi put the flight of Vikash to rest by super-tackling him with excellence. Eventually, the Giants suffered another unfortunate all-out, hence gifting three easy points to the Haryana-based franchise.
A hopeful super-tackle by Gujarat on Kandola reduced the massive score difference to 15 points. Vinay, in a mind-boggling super-raid, struck their nemesis hard with a third unwanted all-out. The score 38-17 after the completion of 35 minutes was tilted in Haryana's direction.
A prominent super-raid by Lalit Chaudhary was challenged by the Steelers, which, upon inspection, was deemed successful. In a clear one-sided affair, Haryana Steelers emerged triumphant against the hapless Gujarat Fortune Giants with the score 41-25.
With a spectacular combination of offense and defense, the Steelers won the battle with ease. However, rookie errors by the whole team of Gujarat put them on the losing side.
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