Gujarat Fortunegiants defeated the Telugu Titans 29-27 in a close encounter at the Rajiv Gandhi Indoor Stadium at Vizag to further strengthen their numero uno spot on the points table in the Zone-A. In the inter-zone match, the Fortunegiants, banking on combined nineteen points from K Prapanjan(10) and Sachin(9), defeated the Titans. The coach Manpreet Singh seemed happy about the team’s performance and commended his boys for performing all throughout the match.
“The team played the entire game really well. K. Prapanjan got us two points, which led to the match turning in our favour. Sachin got us key points as well. But the turning point of the game occurred when we tackled Rakshith. He was one raider who was getting points consistently for Telugu Titans. Tackling him ensured that we had the game in our grasp. Our defence didn’t break in front of Rahul Chaudhari and ensured they didn’t give him a point in the end which won us the game,” Singh said.
“The end result of the game depends on how you plan for the match. Telugu Titans have a very strong defence and it was important for us to know when to use our raiders. We also planned out which chain and Corners to attack for specific situations. The team played according to that strategy. The game could have gone either way and the raiders performed well. But I expect more from them,” he added.
For the Fortunegiants, the defence led by three tackles from Parvesh Bhainswal could not do much for them. Captain Sunil Kumar chided the defence saying that their defence could not give the team the desired result. But he also commended team’s defence for doing relatively well in the second half of the match.
“Before halftime, our defence was struggling to get us tackle points. Even though we inflicted an All-Out on them, it was mostly due to the efforts of our raiders. We recovered as a unit in the second half and ensured that we kept Telugu Titans’ raiders at bay for most of the half,” Sunil Kumar said.
On the other hand, Titans lost the crucial encounter and the team has seen a recent dip in form. This was Titans’ fifth consecutive loss and with the tournament reaching its business end they would like to improve on that performance. The losses have also taken a big toll on their points as they have stalled at 34 points from 14 matches which put them at a lowly fourth position in the Zone-B..
“At the end of the first half, Gujarat Fortunegiants were leading. So we changed a few strategies. We wanted to increase the pace of the game, so we didn’t play on the Do-or-Die raids as much in the first half. On the other hand, Gujarat Fortunegiants were playing on the Do-or-Die raids. However, we started playing on the Do-or-Die raids as well after the interval and that got us the lead. We also had to conserve our energy towards the end of the game. Going ahead, we have to rectify the mistakes we made in both departments today,” Sai Prasad said.
“Gujarat Fortunegiants were leading by one point and didn’t have a Do-or-Die raid coming up, so they could have afforded to sit back on their lead. We didn’t have that luxury. The plan was to at least try for a point and not return without trying. However, we were out of time in the end,” Nilesh Salunke said.
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