Hyderabad, 22 July 2019: The Haryana Steelers got their campaign off to a great start with a 34-24 victory over Puneri Paltan at the Gachibowli Indoor Stadium in Hyderabad on Monday, 22 July. Naveen was the star of the match for Haryana with 14 total points in the match.
The match began with a tough competition between the sides. Manjeet effected a raid point and Amit Kumar pulled off a tackle point to help Puneri Paltan take the lead before Naveen pulled things back for Haryana with two successful raids. The Haryana Steelers took a big lead at 11-7 after Naveen carried out an all out by removing Paltan’s Jadhav Shahaji and Surjeet Singh during a single raid. Selvamani K widened the gap between Haryana and Puneri by pulling off a fantastic super raid.
The Haryana Steelers dominated the scoreline when Puneri Paltan were all out once again in the first half. Paltan’s Amit Kumar missed out on a do-or-die raid as the Haryana Steelers led 22-10 at the end of the first half.
Naveen continued his form and got Haryana off to a great start in the second half with two successful raids. Pawan Kadian carried out a few raids for Puneri Paltan, but the Haryana Steelers kept extending their lead with some smart moves. The Haryana defense performed exceedingly well throughout the match to keep the Puneri Paltan players from scoring raid points. Naveen effected another raid in the 43rd minute and picked up a Super 10 in the match.
Kadian scored a few raid points in the dying minutes of the match and recorded a Super 10, but the Haryana Steelers managed to maintain their lead. Manjeet pulled off a super tackle in the final minute as the Haryana Steelers clinched their first victory of the season.