PANAJI: U.P. Yoddha – the GMR group owned franchisee of the Pro Kabaddi League stormed their way into the top five in the league standings with a thrilling 41-39 win over Tamil Thalaiva. For the Yoddhas, Pardeep Narwal with 13 points & Surender Gill with 10 points starred in the game that saw a neck-to-neck fight from both ends till the final moments of the game. UP Yoddha however were let down from an average performance from their defensive unit where Sumit Kumar stood out with valuable 5 tackle points.With this win U.P. Yoddha are now placed 5thin the PKL standings with 52 points to their kitty.
The first half of the match started with Tamil Thalaivas getting the upper hand in the initial minutes as they went into a 4-2 lead. Soon after, Yoddha’s tried to make a comeback but it was Pardeep Narwal’s ‘Super Raid’ of 3-pointsin the 8th minute that helped UP Yoddha take the lead for the first time in the game, with the scoreboard reading 8-7.In a matter of a minute the Thalaiva’s gave away 3 thechnical points to UP Yoddha after 3 players got themselves self-out enabling UP Yoddha extend their lead to 11-9. Thereafter the Yoddhas ensured their lead was maintained though by a slender margin and also inflicted the first ‘All Out’ on Tamil Thalaivas in the 15th minute to take their lead to 17-15. A few careless mistakes thereafter cost Yoddha’s their lead as the first half came to an end with the scoreboard reading 20-22 to the Thalaivas favour.
The second half began with UP Yoddha stamping their intentions with a ‘Super Tackle’ that helped them level the score to 22-22. Thereafter UP Yoddha never really looked back as Surender Gill & Pardeep Narwal raced their way ahead inflicting the second ‘All Out’ on the Thalaivas in the 27th minute to take a 30-26 lead. Surender gill soon achieved his Super 10 while the scoreboard reading 34-31 to the Yoddha’s favour. The Thalaiva’s tried making a comeback but the Yoddhas maintained their domination with continuous successful raids that saw them walk away with a 41-39 win.
UP Yoddha has ABP News as their lead sponsor, while GMR Group, GMR Sports, Iodex, Socios.com & Encalm Lounge have joined hands as principal sponsors. Adding to that, Amaze Batteries & Inverters, along with Lifelong and Paytm first Games have come on board as associate sponsors.
