Jaipur, Jun 11 (PTI) Maharashtra Ironmen secured their second straight win in the ongoing Premier Handball League as they edged out Telugu Talons 30-26 in a highly entertaining game here on Sunday.
The match saw two of the most attacking teams in the league – Telugu Talons and Maharashtra Ironmen take on each other. Both teams looked for a quick start in the game as they started the tie on the front foot.
Davinder Singh Bhullar, Anil Khudia and Naseeb were combining beautifully in the opening exchanges to give the Talons an early lead in the tie. Maharashtra Ironmen’s Igor Chiseliov, Manjeet Kumar and Jalal Kiani were passing the ball fluidly in attack but luck was not on their side as they struck the crossbar three times in the first 15 minutes of the game.
At the 15th-minute mark, the Telugu Talons had established a slender lead as the scores read 7-4 in their favour, while Ironmen were struggling to make the most of the chances that came their way.
Vijay Thakur of the Ironmen slowly grew into the game and started supporting the Chiseliov and Kiani brilliantly to help them find a way to break through the Talons’ resolute defence as by the 20th-minute mark the scores read 8 all.
In the last 10 minutes of the half, the Talons regained the lead. Soon after the half ended 14-12 in favour of the Telugu Talons.
After the game resumed, Vijay Thakur of the Ironmen was shown a straight red for a robust challenge in the opening minutes.
However, the Ironmen looked determined to give the Talons a fight. Ankit Kumar of the Ironmen was seeing more of the ball in the second half and his influence on the game rose and so did the performance of the Ironmen.
Source: PTI News