Pune: Surender Gill’s inspired raiding helped the U.P. Yoddhas achieve a 41-30 victory over the Telugu Titans in the second game of the day in the Pro Kabaddi League (PKL) Season 9 at the Shree Shivchhatrapati Sports Complex, Balewadi here on Saturday.
Gill (13 points) was the undoubted star of the day, while Siddharth Desai’s (11 points) phenomenal effort came in a losing effort.
Even though the Titans, under pressure and lacking confidence, are stuck at the bottom of the table, the early stages of this match-up defied the predictions. The Titans matched the Yoddhas raid-for-raid, and with neither defence firing — it took almost 10 minutes for the first tackle point — the game looked set to be a high-scoring encounter.
The gridlock was broken by Surender Gill, whose SUPER RAID caught out Vishal Bhardwaj, Parvesh Bhainswal, Mohsen Maghsoudlou and Ankit leaving only two Titans on the mat. The first All-Out of the game duly followed as the Yoddhas took a comprehensive 18-11 lead.
With the bit firmly between their teeth, they never let up and Gill in particular was superb, notching 9 points in the first half itself. The Yoddhas went into the break leading 21-15.
Early in the second half, the Titans mounted a comeback in a consolidated fashion, in a way they hadn’t done before this season. Slowly they cut the lead down to one, and with just one Yoddha player on the mat, an All-Out loomed. However, the Yoddhas’ young raider Mahipal had other ideas, his Super Raid not just getting the lead back but also helped his team recover and deny the Titans the lead.
From there on, the Yoddhas took control and slowly drained the Titans’ newfound confidence again.
They inflicted a second All-Out with seven minutes left to inch into a 12-point lead at 36-24. They extended their lead in the last moments, condemning the Titans to their tenth defeat in a row – the joint worst run in the history of the league.
–IANS
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