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The Telugu Titans got their season six campaign off to the perfect start with a commanding 33-28 win over hosts Tamil Thalaivas, who have now lost two matches on the trot at the Jawaharlal Nehru Indoor Stadium in Chennai.
In a game that was dominated by the Titans, the Thalaivas only had their moments in the first ten minutes of the game, when Athul MS's successful raid was met by Manjeet Chhillar's double thigh hold to bring down star raider Rahul Chaudhari.
The 2-0 lead was levelled in the 4th minute before both teams dealt blow for blow whilst opting for a cautious approach until the Titans' top player of the day Mohsen Maghsoudlou went on a riot, claiming two points in a row as the Thalaivas fell to an all-out in the dying moments of the opening half.
At the break, the Titans enjoyed a comfortable 17-11 lead from where they never looked back as the Thalaivas never seemed to claw their way back as the Titans romped home to victory in their opening encounter.
Rahul Chaudhari topped the charts for the Titans while Mohsen Maghsoudlou's terrific show raised the bar for the Thalaivas, who were also dented by the efficiency of the Titans defence.
Here are the player ratings for the match between the Thalaivas and Titans.
Tamil Thalaivas
Ajay Thakur - 8/10
The Thalaivas skipper was the one player who continually picked points but in the dying stages of the game, Thakur seemed to lose out on confidence as he was pinned down quite often by the likes of Vishal Bharadwaj and Anil Kumar.
Manjeet Chhillar - 7/10
A top defender, Manjeet Chhillar started on the left corner again and was a prime contender for a tough fight against Rahul Chaudhari. Although Manjeet started off with a successful tackle against Rahul, he slowly faded away as the Titans raider emerged as the better of the two on the day.
Amit Hooda - 7/10
Generally, an aggressive defender stationed at the right corner, Hooda seemed to have no answer to the might of the Titans raiders in the first half but soon came into his element in the second half as he picked 6 tackle points including an effort to bring down Rahul Chaudhari in a super tackle.
Athul MS - 6/10
The youngster was promoted from playing as a substitute to finding a place in the starting seven and he kicked off the proceedings for the Thalaivas, only to slowly lose his way in the middle. From 10 raids, Athul picked just 5 points and was involved in a set of poor tackles.
Darshan J - 3/10
The young defender showed a lot of promise against the Pirates but against the Titans, seemed a little too rushed in his tackles, often coming up with solo tackles that were warded off with ease by the Titans defenders.
Jasvir Singh - 2/10
For a man of experience such as Jasvir Singh, the veteran had absolutely nothing to show against the Titans, highlighted by just two successful raids from 14 raids. It was only in the 36th minute that Jasvir picked his first point as he just could not find his feet.
C Arun - 1/10
The local lad went out of favour early in the match, substituted by Sunil Kumar owing to the former's lack of efficiency on the day.
SUBSTITUTES
Sunil Kumar - 4/10
Sunil entered into the competition as a substitute and did not fare too badly but at the same time, did not contribute by a huge margin. A dash from the corner to get rid of Nilesh Salunke was his only highlight.
Vimal Raj V - NA
Vimal featured in just the one raid right throughout the game, a DO OR DIE raid in which he was literally thrown to the wolves.
Telugu Titans
Rahul Chaudhari - 8/10
A lot was expected from Rahul Chaudhari ahead of the game and he did not disappoint, picking nine points to his credit and caused quite a few issues in the Thalaivas defense. His one-one duel with Manjeet Chhillar saw him finish victorious, highlighting his efficiency.
Mohsen Maghsoudlou - 8/10
The Iranian had a fantastic outing as he proved his mettle as an all-rounder, and with 3 raid points from nine raids and four tackle points from five tackles, led the way for the Titans and made sure they were always in the hunt for a win.
Nilesh Salunke - 7/10
Playing the role of a secondary raider to Rahul Chaudhari, Nilesh's crafty raiding awarded him with four points apart from a firm back hold on Jasvir Singh which also landed him a tackle point.
Abozar Mighani - 6/10
The Iranian had an average debut with the Titans by his lofty standards, picking only three points, two of which came in the final few minutes of the encounter.
Vishal Bharadwaj - 6/10
Vishal's captaincy was sure to come to the fore against an experienced Thalaivas unit and he did not do too bad as Titans won in the end. However, on a personal note, the Titans' skipper enjoyed his moment when he pulled Ajay Thakur back into his own court with a firm ankle hold.
Anil Kumar - 6/10
The left cover defender had a quiet day in the office as although he started off as a potential weak link in the defence unit, his two tackles, one on Ajay Thakur will certainly give him a lot of confidence going into the next game.
Farhad Milagardhan - 4/10
The Iranian right cover managed to keep a low key-profile right through the first half but at the later stages was the main target for especially Ajay Thakur as Farhad finished with just one point from five tackles.
