Hyderabad: Parteek Dahiya’s brilliant raiding powered the Gujarat Giants to a 51-39 victory over the high-flying Puneri Paltan at the Gachibowli Indoor Stadium here on Tuesday. The Giants victory broke a five-match winning streak for the Paltan.
A blistering start by the Paltan saw them race into an early lead, with the Giants finding it tough on the mat. However, it all changed within moments as captain Chandran Ranjit caught out Aslam Inamdar and Sanket Sawant to bring the Giants back into the game. Despite the resurgence, it was the Paltan who inflicted the first ALL OUT of the game, to take a 15-8 lead.
The All Out galvanised the Giants, Ranjit and Parteek Dahiya combining to not just engineer a comeback but also get the Giants an ALL OUT of their own, to make it a one-point game. From there, the match ebbed and flowed with both teams trading points constantly. The teams went into the break with Paltan leading 22-21.
The Giants, however, roared out of the blocks in the second half, Dahiya in particular was devastating on almost every raid he went for. They inflicted a second ALL OUT on the Paltan to take the lead for the first time in the game at 31-25. The Giants kept the pressure up with Dahiya in particular on a streak that was destroying Pune at regular intervals. A second ALL OUT followed as the Giants extended into a 44-32 lead.
They never let it slip, registering a morale-boosting and momentous win. For the Giants, it was Dahiya who starred yet again with a tally of 19 points and was the driving force for his side.
–IANS