U.P. Yoddhas Suffer Defeat Against Gujarat Giants in Pro Kabaddi League Match
Panchkula (Haryana), Feb 17 (IANS) – In a thrilling encounter, U.P. Yoddhas went down to Gujarat Giants with a score of 29-36 in Match No.125 of Season 10 of Pro Kabaddi League, held at Tau Devilal Indoor Stadium, here on Saturday. This defeat comes as a setback for the Yoddhas, who are currently eleventh in the points table with four victories and 30 points. The absence of star players seemed to have impacted their performance in the reverse fixture against the Giants.
Gagan Gowda scored the highest nine points for the Yoddhas, followed by Hitesh who scored seven points, thereby securing another High 5 of this season. U.P. Yoddhas will face Puneri Paltans in their last game of PKL Season 10 on 21st February 2024 at Panchkula.
After winning the toss, U.P. Yoddhas invited Gujarat Giants to raid first, and the latter opened the scorecard in the game. The Yoddhas had a slow start, trailing by four points in the initial minutes. However, they quickly staged a comeback through a Super Tackle and a successful do-or-die multipoint raid, taking the lead with the scorecard reading 5-4 in their favor by the 6th minute of the game.
The game thereafter saw a neck-to-neck contest; however, Yoddhas’ Harendra exhibited one of the staunchest tackles on his opponent raider, earning yet another Super Tackle for his side with just six minutes to go in the first half. A super raid by the Giants in the twentieth minute helped them hold a two-point lead at the halfway mark of the game, and the scorecard read 13-15 in their favor.
U.P. Yoddhas started the second half with Gagan Gowda standing alone on the mat and in the first raid of the second half, he was pinned down which resulted in the first All-Out on the Yoddhas in the match and the scorecard was now reading 14-18 to their opponent’s favor.
Later, both the sides earned points through raid and defense and kept the scorecard running where Gujarat maintained a four-point lead and the scorecard was now 20-24 with eleven minutes to go in the game. The Yoddhas committed some unforced errors in the next few minutes, facing another All-Out that resulted in a ten-point deficit, favoring the Giants 31-21 by the eleventh minute of the second half.
Despite a late attempt at recovery by the Yoddhas, scoring points quickly in the last few minutes, it was too late, and Gujarat Giants emerged victorious with a scorecard of 36-29.
The U.P. Yoddhas will need to regroup and come back stronger in their upcoming match against Puneri Paltans to salvage their position in the points table.
–IANS
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