Pardeep Narwal, Deepak Hooda, and Maninder Singh shine on Day 1 of Senior Nationals Championship

Dr. Bhimrao Ambedkar International Sports Stadium witnessed some electrifying action on the opening matchday of the 68th Senior Men's National Kabaddi Championship as thirteen matches were played out. The opening match between Uttar Pradesh and Assam turned out to be a one-sided affair (50-6). While ‘the Showman’ Rahul Chaudhari and Nitin Tomar scored five points each, it was Vikrant who came off the bench to bag eight points for the home side.

Deepak Hooda's Rajasthan edged past Himachal Pradesh (34-31) in Match 3 with the skipper bagging eight raid points. On the other hand, Vishal Bhardwaj managed only three tackles points for Himachal Pradesh.

In match 4, Chandigarh got the better of Karnataka (55-38) with an emphatic performance. The Guman Singh (13 points) and Vijay (17 points) duo shone for the Chandigarh side and scored 30 points between them. Match 5 was all about the  Pardeep Narwal show with the 'Dubki King' outclassing Goa's defence, scoring 13 points in the match.

The most intriguing encounter of the opening day turned out to be the southern derby which saw Karnataka taking on Tamil Nadu. With only two minutes left on the clock, the tie was wonderfully poised at 32-31 in Tamil Nadu’s favour. However, Karnataka turned the tables by inflicting an all-out in the last minute to seal the game (35-32).

In Match 8, the raiding prowess of Maharashtra turned out to be too good for Manipur. The trio of Rishank Devadiga (10 points), Pankaj Mohite (10 points) and Ajinkya Pawar (8 points) went all guns blazing as Maharashtra registered a thumping victory over Manipur (49-30).

Meanwhile, Punjab overcame Vidarbha with a scoreline of 45-23 as Maninder Singh took matters into his own hands and scored 17 points to provide Punjab with a flying start in the championship.