Chennai: UP Yoddha picked up an important 31-24 victory against league leaders Jaipur Pink Panthers in the second match of VIVO Pro Kabaddi League at a packed Jawaharlal Nehru Indoor Stadium in Chennai on Monday.
Yoddha’s win, on match number 50 of Season 7, halted Panthers’ winning run and showed that the league is far from over for even the bottom-placed teams. Shrikant Jadhav (7 points) and surprise-inclusion in the team, Surender Gill (8 points), were the stars for Yoddha as they climbed to 8th in the league standings.
The match started with a surprisingly poor defence by both sides, with no successful tackles till the 11th minute, despite having the league’s best tacklers in Sandeep Dhull and Sumit on the mat. But the game changed after the first tackle, with both teams, especially the Panthers producing impressive Super Tackles to stay neck-to-neck. Shrikant Jadhav’s improved form reduced the Jaipur men and the U.P. team secured their first All-Out with two minutes remaining – a two-point raid by Surender Gill taking out both Amit Hooda and Sandeep Dhull. Yoddha ended the half with a six-point lead (17-11).
The key to Jaipur Pink Panthers’ successful start to the season had been the time spent by Deepak Niwas Hooda on the mat. U.P. Yoddha had identified this as an important area to target in the first half, with the captain spending a lot of time in the dugout. The second half started brightly for the all-rounder though, picking up a three-point Super Raid to start the proceedings. But he picked up an injury in the process, something U.P. Yoddha, heavily marshalled by captain RishankDevadiga, went on to capitalise. Devadiga, Shrikant Yadav and Surender Gill combined as a raiding unit for the team as they opened a 9-point lead with nine minutes remaining. Deepak Hooda battled what looked like a troubled knee to keep his Jaipur side in the contest but the Yoddha defence held firm to register their third victory of the season.
Haryana Steelers beat U Mumba 30-27
Star raider Vikas Kandola was once again the star for Haryana Steelers as they picked up an important 30-27 victory against a struggling U Mumba side in the first VIVO Pro Kabaddi League match at the Jawaharlal Nehru Indoor Stadium in Chennai on Monday. The closely fought contest saw the Mumbai side match the Steelers till the very end but Kandola’s nine-point game and some uncharacteristic errors from the U Mumba defence finally led to a Haryana victory.
Both sides went into the match with identical records (four wins and four losses in eight matches) but Haryana Steelers started on the aggressive, with coach Rakesh Kumar recognising the lack of raiding quality in U Mumba’s ranks. The defence kept a high line, strangling U Mumba’s opportunities to pick up Bonus Points, thereby forcing them to mistakes, while Vikas Kandola picked up the points with his raids in the other end. His three-point Super Raid, 12 minutes into the match, set the tone for the Haryana side who inflicted an All-Out on U Mumba with three minutes remaining to half time.
The second half started with the scores at 16-8 but raider Abhishek Singh’s introduction by U Mumba changed the dynamics of the match. His raid points and U Mumba’s resolute defence reduced the gap to just two points 10 minutes into the half. Consecutive Super Tackles by Ravi Kumar and Chand Singh, along with a few errors in the Mumbai defence quickly widened the gap to 25-17 in favour of Haryana with seven minutes to final whistles though. Sandeep Narwal’s raid for Mumbai with 6 minutes left on the clock, taking out Dharmaraj Cheralathan and Chand Singh, tilted the balance of the match once again and the subsequent all-out meant the gap was reduced to one point with less than three minutes remaining. But the surge came too late for Mumbai as they succumbed to another defeat.
