Pro Kabaddi League: Vizag nose ahead of Mumbai, win 44-43

17th August 2014, Vizag: The crowd at the Rajiv Gandhi Port Stadium erupted as their Men in Yellow ran towards the centre stage. After drawing against the charging Bulls last night, the people of Vizag were expecting a win from their team. But winning against the U Mumba was not going to be an easy task and so the Telegu Titans put their best moves forward to give the crowd something to cheer about.

Powered by the dynamic performance of Rahul Chaudhuri, it was the home team that outplayed U Mumba by one point, handing them a hat-trick of defeats. The final scoreboard read 44-43 in favour of the Telegu Titans.

After an entertaining match between Jaipur and Patna, the spectators were finally ready to welcome their yellow men in style. It was billed as a contest between two best raiders of their teams – Anup Kumar of U Mumba and Rahul Choudhari of the Titans – who were ready to compete and win bragging rights to the title of the best raider of the day and more importantly, the top raider of the league as well.

The last time that Mumbai and Vizag met it was a tie and today, neither of the two teams seemed in a mood for an encore. A slightly stumbled start from U Mumba saw their star performers Mohit Chillar and skipper Anup Kumar back on the bench. But as soon as the captain re-joined his team, he hatched and executed a fine strategy to capture the young Titan Deepak Niwas Hudda.

Going neck-to-neck, the point difference between the two teams was just a single point by the 15th minute with U Mumba leading. But the tables soon turned as Rahul Chaudhari decided to join the party. Reducing U Mumba to a one-man army twice consequently, he decided to turn the heat up a notch, earning the Titans their first LONA points.

Playing a game of his own Rahul took down 3 Antis as he overtook Anup Kumar and became the top raider of the tournament. By half-time, the scores were 22-15 in favour of the home team.

The second half began with Rahul Chaudhari claiming his 102nd raid points. At that point in the 22nd minute, Rahul had earned 17 out of his team’s 25. Putting up a one-man show for the Titans, Rahul soon brought about the second set of LONA Points for his team.

Though Pawan Kumar was one of the better raiders of the day, Rishank Devadiga's poor form reflected on the team's shaky performance.

But in a mood to destroy everything in his way, Rahul Chaudhari became the man with a golden touch, making every raid count. Thanks to his efforts, the 3rd set of LONA points was in store for the Vizag contingent in the 23rd minute.

The game turned into a nail-biter as homeboys started to falter in the final three minutes of the game yet again. But scoring a record 23 points in a single match, superhero Rahul saved the day as he took his team over the finish line by just one point.