Premier Handball League 2023: Delhi Panzers beat Telugu Talons; Golden Eagles Uttar Pradesh, Garvit Gujarat play thrilling draw

This was the first draw of the PHL 2023 season.

Delhi Panzers beat Telugu Talons to register its second win in the Premier Handball League 2023. This was also a second consecutive defeat for the Telugu Talons after successive wins to start the season. For Delhi Panzers it was a second consecutive victory after a loss to start their PHL 2023 season. In the other match of the day, Golden Eagles Uttar Pradesh and Garvit Gujarat played out a thrilling draw. It was the first draw of the PHL 2023 season.

Delhi Panzers beat Telugu Talons

The first match of Matchday 5 in the Premier Handball League (PHL) saw Delhi Panzers come away with a crucial win against the Telugu Talons as the tie ended 27-29 in favour of the Panzers after a nail-biting finish to the game.

Telugu Talons started the game on the front foot as they were piling intense pressure on the Panzers. The Talons took an early lead in the game thanks to Anil Khudia and Kailash Patel, while Rahul TK in the Talons goal made a couple of amazing saves in the opening minutes of the game to help the Talons to extend their lead further. Panzers were tightly marking Davinder Singh Bhullar, who turned into a facilitator for his team as he was laying on chances for Naseeb to score consistently.

By the 15th-minute mark, the scores were 8-5 in favour of the Talons. Naseeb was shooting with devastating effect from the wing as he was unplayable at times in the first half. However, Bhupender Ghanghas and Deepak Ahlawat worked together to bring Delhi Panzers back into the game as they slowly got into their attacking groove and cut short the deficit. Soon after, the half ended 13-12 as Telugu went into the break with a narrow lead.

The Delhi Panzers came out for the second half determined to fight for the win while the Talons were hoping to extend their lead. Unfortunately for the Panzers Anil Khudia, Davinder Singh and Naseeb were combining fluidly at the start of the second half and were able to breach the Panzers defences with ease.

Rahul TK in the Talons' goal was also able to consistently deny the Panzers from scoring which helped the Talons extend their lead.  The captain of the Panzers Deepak Ahlawat was looking to inspire his team into action as he was spearheading all of the Panzers' counter in the hopes of dragging his team across the line.

Halfway through the second period, the scores read 22-19 in favour of the Talons. Bhupender and Ahlawat were trying their level best to bring Delhi Panzers back into the game, but to little effect as an on-song Naseeb was scoring at will for the Talons which saw them hold on to their slender lead. However, the Panzers recovered going into the last 5 minutes of the game thanks to an impactful performance by Ashok Nain who was containing Naseeb on the wing and was even scoring consistently.

The Panzers took the lead thanks to their trio of Ahlawat, Nain and Bhupender Ghanghas. The game was heading for a dramatic conclusion as both teams were neck to neck and with two minutes to go the scores read 26-28 in favour of the Panzers. Soon after the game ended 27-29 as Delhi Panzers emerged victorious at the end of the tie.

Naseeb emerged as the top scorer for the Telugu Talons by the end of the tie with 10 goals, while the Delhi Panzers captain Deepak Ahlawat was the top scorer for his team with a match-high 11 goals. Ahlawat was also adjudged to be the best player of the match for his inspirational performance during the game.   

Final Score - Telugu Talons 27-29 Delhi Panzers

Golden Eagles Uttar Pradesh and Garvit Gujarat play thrilling draw

Both teams were looking for a quick start in the game. Sahil Rana and Naveen Malik of the Golden Eagles Uttar Pradesh looked in fine form as they were finding pockets of space to unleash lethal shots on Gujarat’s goal. Amit and Mohit Ghanghas of Garvit Gujarat were also on-song as they were creating shooting opportunities at will. The lead was constantly exchanging hands in the first half as both teams were matching each other blow for blow.

By the 15th minute of the game, the scores read 9-all. With very little to separate the two teams, captains Avin Khatkar and Vikas were looking to lead by example as they slowly took over the scoring responsibilities for their respective teams.  The Introduction of Tuliboev Mukhtar for Gujarat saw them establish a slender lead over the Golden Eagles briefly, but thanks to some devastating finishing by Jyotiram Bhushan Shinde from the wing the Golden Eagles made sure they cut short the deficit immediately. The first half ended at 17-16 in favour of the Golden Eagles as an exciting second half beckoned.

Both teams were struggling to dominate the other in the game. Garvit Gujarat were successful in keeping Golden Eagles star player Sukhveer Singh Brar relatively contained in the game. Tarun Thakur was efficiently pulling the strings for Gujarat as he was able to find Tuliboev and Atsawamethee Barameechuay on the wings with incisive passes constantly due to which they wrestled the lead back from the Golden Eagles. Halfway through the second period the scores read 23-25 in favour of Gujarat.

Omid Reza in the Golden Eagles’ goal was proving to be vital for his team as he made a couple of stunning saves to make sure the Eagles were still in the game going into the last 10 minutes of the game. While Omid in goal was keeping the Golden Eagles in the hunt, Vansh Thakran, Jyotiram Bhushan and Harjinder Singh in attack were slowly chipping away at Garvit Gujarat’s slender lead, allowing them to set up a thrilling finish to the game.

With 30 seconds left to play the scores read 31 all as both teams were looking for that golden goal to win the game. However, thanks to the heroics of both keepers in the dying embers of the tie, the game ended in a draw with the scores reading 31 all.

Jyotiram Bhushan Shinde was the top scorer for the Golden Eagles Uttar Pradesh with 9 goals, while Tuilboev Mukhtor was the top scorer for Garvit Gujarat with 8 goals. Omid Reza was awarded the best player of the match for his numerous saves in the Golden Eagles goal. 

Final Score - Golden Eagles Uttar Pradesh 31-31 Garvit Gujarat