Telugu Talons defeated the Rajasthan Patriots 28-24 in the 14th match of the inaugural season of the Premier Handball League, here on Wednesday.
After a slow start to the game the Talons put on a masterful display in the second half to come away with the victory.
The Patriots started the game brilliantly as Mohit Ghanghas, Hardev Singh and Dmitry Kireev looked on song as they helped Rajasthan establish a healthy lead at the start of the game. However, thanks to Naseeb, Anil Khudia and Vishal Hadiya the Talons came roaring back into the game as they started finding the back of the net consistently.
By the 15th minute mark, the scores were level at 6 all. The Rajasthan captain and goalkeeper Atul Kumar was in fine knick also as he made some crucial saves to help his team retake the lead going into the second half, while Kireev was putting in a masterful performance in attack for the Patriots. Soon after the first period came to a close as the scores read 13-14 in favour of Rajasthan Patriots.
Atul Kumar of the Patriots struggled to get on the field for the second half due to some swelling just above his right eye after he got struck by a shot. Ramesh Goadara deputised for the Patriots captain in goal for the second half. The Telugu Talons came out for the second half determined to cut short the slender lead the Patriots held.
The Talons star player Davinder Singh Bhullar finally started asserting his presence in the game as he scored back-to-back goals to put his team in the lead.
Bhullar’s goals seemingly inspired his teammates to find their cutting edge in attack as the Talons attack became lethal from then on. Anil Khudia, Vishal Hadiya and Kailash Patel were supporting Bhullar flawlessly to extend the Talons lead. By the 45th minute of the game the scores read 23-19 in favour of Telugu.
Thanks to Kireev and Mohit Ghanghas the Patriots found a way back into the game as they worked together to cut short the deficit to make it 2 goal game going into the last 10 minutes as a dramatic finish beckoned. The Talons continued scoring freely, while the Patriots were unable to score goals in the crucial final minutes of the game. Soon after the game ended 28-24 in favour of the Telugu Talons.
The top scorer for the Telugu Talons in the game was Naseeb with 7 goals, while Dmitry Kireev of the Patriots emerged as the top scorer for his team in the match with 8 goals.
Davinder Singh Bhullar of the Telugu Talons was adjudged to be best player of the game for his inspirational performance during the match.