Visakhapatnam, Sep 10 (IANS) It was an impressive finish to the Vizag leg for the home side Telugu Titans, who secured a 45-37 win over U Mumba at the Vishwanadh Sports Club on Wednesday night. Bharat Hooda led the charge with 13 points, while Chetan Sahu (6 points) and skipper Vijay Malik (5 points) played strong supporting roles, helping the Titans notch their third victory on the trot.

A strong start from the home team set the tone for the match, with Bharat ruling the roost. He opened with a multi-point raid, followed by Chetan’s tackle on Anil in a do-or-die raid. Another multi-point effort from Bharat – this time in a do-or-die raid – inflicted an all out on U Mumba in the 6th minute.

Skipper Vijay joined the party immediately after the all out with a successful raid on Rinku, as the Season 2 champions struggled to find their footing. Anil managed a touch point off Ankit, while Rinku responded with a tackle on Bharat. But Chetan struck again, dismissing Anil, and then turned raider to send Vijay Kumar off the mat, taking the score to 14-5 at the end of the first phase of play.

The rampage continued in the second phase, with another all out inflicted on U Mumba in the 14th minute. It was a big blow, stretching the scoreline to 18-7. For the side captained by Sunil Kumar, only Satish Kannan looked like a bright spark in the absence of their main raider, Ajit Chouhan.

Bharat Hooda kept piling on the damage in his team’s last outing in Vizag, producing a Super Raid that also brought up his Super 10. His single-handed brilliance left U Mumba reeling, as the scoreboard read 27-11 at halftime, leaving them with a mountain to climb in the second half.

U Mumba began well with a Super Tackle led by Sunil Kumar, who brought down Bharat with an impressive move. But unforced errors soon crept in, pushing them towards a third all out. That moment arrived when skipper Vijay earned a touch point on Satish.

Substitute Amirmohammad Zafardanesh couldn’t turn his team’s fortunes around, as he too was caught by Bharat, widening the lead to 20 points. He eventually managed to break through with a touch point on Avi Duhan, before Vijay Kumar tackled Bharat to provide U Mumba some much-needed respite. At the end of the third quarter, the scoreboard read 39-21.

With 10 minutes left on the clock, it was all about damage control for U Mumba. Substitute Sandeep made an impact, scoring six raid points for his side. But the Titans weren’t done yet – Shankar Gadai and Ajit Pawar combined to pin down Sandeep for a Super Tackle, further stretching the home team’s lead.

As the match drew to a close, the Titans finally conceded an all out after Zafardanesh dismissed both Shankar and Ajit in a single raid. U Mumba clawed their way back, cutting the deficit to just eight points, but the gap proved too much to overcome as the Telugu Titans wrapped up their home leg with an impressive victory.

–IANS

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