PKL 2018: Tamil Thalaivas crush defending champions Patna Pirates

Chennai, October 7: Defending champions Patna Pirates began their title defence on a disappointing note as they crashed to 26-42 defeat against Tamil Thalaivas in the opening match of Vivo Pro Kabaddi Season VI.

Pro Kabaddi League 2018: Full Schedule, fixtures, date, venue, TV Channel Info of PKL Season 6

Skipper Ajay Thakur led from the front for Tamil Thalaivas and scored 14 points to lead his team to victory. Patna’s defence was the biggest reason for their downfall as they scored just two tackle points. Pardeep Narwal scored 11 raid points but it wasn’t enough to save his team from a crushing defeat.

The Bravest Moment of the match came in the 12th minute from Surjeet Singh as he made a super raid to revive Ajay Thakur, Manjeet Chhillar and Jasvir Singh. Patna Pirates never recovered from that moment as their listless defence couldn’t contain Tamil Thalaivas’ raiders.

#PirateHamla: Defused!
@tamilthalaivas made the most of home advantage as they destroyed @PatnaPirates 42-26 in a 💥💥 opening game of #VivoProKabaddi Season 6! #CHEvPAT pic.twitter.com/R85HvAGYDU

— ProKabaddi (@ProKabaddi) October 7, 2018

Ajay Thakur got the Thalaivas going with a raid point in the third minute and the defence sent Pardeep Narwal to the bench as they led 2-0. Patna Pirates opened their account with Manjeet getting a raid point. The Thalaivas continued to dominate the proceedings as they reduced Patna to two men and led 6-1 after seven minutes. Tamil Thalaivas inflicted the first all out of the match in the 9th minute to lead 10-2.

Pardeep Narwal made a two-point raid in the 10th minute as Patna cut the deficit to seven points. Surjeet Singh made a super raid in the 12th minute as Tamil Thalaivas led 14-5 and then followed it up with a two-point raid in the 15th minute. The Thalaivas inflicted the second all out in the 18th minute to lead 23-8.

Patna Pirates defence just didn’t turn up in the first half as they failed to score a single tackle point. Tamil Thalaivas ended the first half with a 18-point gap to lead 26-8.

Ajay Thakur achieved a super 10 in the 23rd minute as Tamil Thalaivas inflicted another all out to lead 32-8. The Pirates defence scored their first tackle point in the 25th minute as they trailed 10-33. Thalaivas forced a super tackle in the 29th minute to lead 36-13. With just 10 minutes to go, Patna Pirates were all but defeated as they trailed 14-37.

Thalaivas looked more fitter and sharper than Patna with Ajay Thakur scoring raid points at ease. Manjeet tried to redeem some pride for Patna as he scored a couple of raid points but trailed 17-39.

Pardeep Narwal scored a couple of raid points as Patna Pirates inflicted an all out in the 40 th minute. But it was too little too late as Tamil Thalaivas ran out comfortable winners.

The Tamil Thalaivas will take on UP Yoddhas in their next match on Monday (October 8) and would look to continue their impressive start to the season.

Match Awards:

• VIVO Perfect Raider OF THE MATCH – Ajay Thakkur (Jersey 7), Tamil Thalaivas
• THE TATA ACE DEFENDEDR OF THE MATCH – Amit Hood (Jersey 10), Tamil Thalaivas
• THE TAMIL THALAIVAS MOMENT OF THE MATCH AWARD – Surjeet Singh (Jersey 3), Tamil Thalaivas

Source: Press Release