Gujarat Giants, on Saturday (September 6), registered an impressive 37-28 victory over Tamil Thalaivas to open their account in the ongoing Pro Kabaddi League 2025 (PKL 2025).
The first win of the season came after two defeats for the Gujarat-based outfit while the Thalaivas suffered their second defeat in three games.
Nitin Pawar led the show for Gujarat Giants with a High Five while Rakesh and Mohammadreza Shadloui scored six points each.
PKL 2025 – Gujarat Giants get off the mark
Both the teams were cautious in the early stages. Gujarat Giants opened their scoring through Rakesh and Nitin. For the Thalaivas, Arjun Deshwal and Pawan Sehrawat tried to give some much-needed impetus but their efforts were subdued by the Gujarat Giants defenders.
The notable moment of the first half came when Pawan was stopped with a brilliant Super Tackle from Nitin. The Gujarat Giants star went on to deliver a couple of more moves to give his team the momentum. At the 10-minute mark, Gujarat held a slender 10-7 lead.
Nitin completed his High Five inside the first half to put his team in the driver’s seat. Pawan delivered a successful Do-or-Die raid and followed it up by sending Rakesh off the mat but his team just could not wipe out the deficit. At halftime, the score was 17-12 in Gujarat Giants’ favour.
The Thalaivas came out all guns blazing after the game restarted. While the Giants started well thanks to Rakesh’s successful raid, Arjun shifted the momentum towards the Thalaivas by delivering a crucial raid that inflicted an all out as well.
However, Gujarat Giants were quick to respond and managed to maintain a slender 24-21 lead at the end of the third quarter. The Thalaivas’ hopes of clinching a comeback win suffered a big blow when Shadloui produced a series of decisive moments to help his side inflict an all out. He first tackled Narender Kandola to complete the all out before dismissing Nitesh Kumar with a successful raid.
The likes of Pawan and Arjun tried their best for the Thalaivas but their efforts were not enough to power their team to a victory. In the end, Gujarat Giants registered a comfortable 9-point win.
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