We won this game only through luck, admits BC Ramesh

Telugu Titans coach Venkatesh Goud Survi believes the game was at parity until the last minute.

Puneri Paltan prevailed over Telugu Titans by a single point, winning a thriller 26-25 here at Bengaluru’s Sri Kanteerava Indoor Stadium in PKL 9. Mohit Goyat put in a brilliant all-around performance with 8 raid points and 2 tackle points. With the scores tied at 25-25, Aslam Inamdar was tasked with a do-or-die raid to end the game, but he kept his nerve to force an error from Monu Goyat and won the game for the Paltan in PKL 9. Here are the coaches’ and captains’ thoughts post-match.

Puneri Paltan: Coach BC Ramesh and captain Fazel Atrachali

Failing to score as a unit

Puneri Paltan as a team boast of some individual stars but they failed to fire as a team against the struggling Titans. They managed 14 raid points and 9 tackle points in total. Coach BC Ramesh answered, “At the start, our raiders were imbalanced, but they performed well toward the end. At the end of the second half, our cover defenders were error-prone."

Fazel’s leadership

Puneri captain Fazel led from the front with three tackle points. On asked how he is handling the responsibility he answered, “We have a young team. I have to work every second to make a plan. The situation was risky and one mistake could have cost the game.”

On the final raid

There was one second left on the clock when Aslam came in for the final raid. On asked about the strategy behind the success coach BC Ramesh answered, “We should not have left it that late in the first place. Even the previous tackle attempt from Sombir should have been successful. We won this game only through luck.

“Aslam kept stepping into the lobby in the first half and targeted the corners. Captain and I told him to roam around the mat while raiding. That helped in the final raid.”

All-rounders in the unit

Pune boast of a very multi-dimensional squad and now raiders like Mohit Goyat and Mohammad Nabibakhsh are also contributing with tackle points. On how this helps the team composition Fazel answered, “All-rounders are important when defenders are out. With one tackle the match can change. Nabi has helped us in defence these last two matches. Only winning is important. Finally, Puneri Paltan is important.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pscD7IVXBOE

Telugu Titans: Coach Venkatesh Goud Survi

Major mistake

The Telugu Titans fought hard to come back into the match but let it all slip in the dying seconds of the PKL 9 game. On what the mistake was, the coach Venkatesh Goud Survi answered, “The game was pretty neck and neck till the end. Both offence and defence were going well but the mistake happened in the last raid.”

What was not supposed to happen, happened. If Siddharth had come back a second later, we could have got a draw. The match was in our hands.”

Vinay’s super raid

Vinay single-handedly handed a lifeline to the Titans with a late four-point raid. The coach Venkatesh Goud Survi told, “That raid was the turning point. All our 24 players are good and we start players according to the opponents."

Puneri plays Bengal Warriors on Friday, while the Titans face the flying Jaipur Pink Panthers on Saturday.