Deepak Hooda's masterclass steals the show on Day 2 of Senior Nationals

The reigning champions, Indian Railway, started their Senior Nationals campaign on a winning note, defeating Jharkhand 33-14 at the Dr. Bhimrao Ambedkar International Sports Stadium. Pawan Sehrawat (8 points) and Vikash Kandola (6 points) led the raiding department, while Parvesh Bhainswal managed to bag 3 tackle points.

The opening match of Day 2 turned out to be the most thrilling encounter in this competition so far. Uttarakhand got the better of Gujarat in the dying minutes, winning the game by a single point (35-34).

In match 17, the Services team outplayed Delhi (53-29) courtesy of some brilliant performances by Manjeet (12 points) and Arjun Deshwal (11 points). The 'Naveen Express' played his part with 7 raid points and helped Services seal a comfortable win over their opponent.

The best performance of the day came from Deepak Niwas Hooda who scored 24 points against Vidarbha. Rajasthan's skipper then carried his sensational form against Punjab and amassed 11 points in that fixture. With the most number of points to his name, the leader of Jaipur Pink Panthers is having an incredible tournament so far.

The hosts, Uttar Pradesh, went on to register two back-to-back wins and maintained their dominance. Nitin Tomar (13 points) and Rahul Chaudhari (10 points) showed their class against Telangana as the home side defeated them comprehensively (52-27). The next match against Chandigarh went down to the wire but UP's Abhishek Singh rose to the occasion with a match-winning Super 10 and led his team to victory (41-38).