UP Yoddha’s polished performance, in offence as well as defence, resulted in a hard-earned 38-32 verdict over Jaipur Pink Panthers on the third day of ProKabaddi League’s Pune leg at the Balewadi indoor stadium on Monday.
The eighth win also eased the victor’s entry into the top six. Shrikant Jadhav (nine points), Rishank Devadiga (eight) and Surender Gill (seven) delivered in crunch situations, though the top-scorer of the evening ended up on the losing side.
Panthers’captain Deepak Hooda’s balance and reflexes earned him 13 points (including two bonus points) and plenty of respect. He also came up with a Super Tackle to delay the second all-out.
Sushil Gulia (five points) made early impact, sending out three Yoddha players in a Super raid. The defensive line at both ends of the mat got into the act, giving raiders a tough time. The match took a twist due to some clever work by Surender in offence and defence.
He twisted and turned to get to the centreline, eluding the challenge from two rivals and then caught Sachin Narwal with a firm waist hold as Panthers ran out of players and suffered an all-out.
Yoddha displayed solidity from this point till the half-time, walking off the mat ahead 20-13.
Shrikant and Rishank earned touch points in a heap, the former sent out three Panthers, the latter slipped past two rivals.
Deepak Hooda, composed on court and quick to sense any scoring opportunity, sent out two Yoddha players in between the excellent offensive workby Shrikant and Rishank.
The results:
UP Yoddha 38 (Shrikant Jadhav 9, Rishank Devadiga 8, Surender Gill 7) bt Jaipur Pink Panthers 32 (Deepak Hooda 13, Sushil Gulia 5).
Dabang Delhi 37 (Naveen Kumar 12, Vijay 6) bt Telugu Titans 27 (Siddharth Desai 12, Rakesh Gowda 5).
Tuesday is a rest day.