Clinical raiding display sees U.P. Yoddha leapfrog Jaipur Pink Panthers in the standings

A stellar effort from U.P. Yoddha’s raiding trio of Shrikant Jadhav, Rishank Devadiga and Surender Gill helped their side beat Jaipur Pink Panthers by a scoreline of 38-32 at Shree Shiv Chhatrapati Sports Complex, Mahalunge, Balewadi in Pune on Tuesday. With this win, U.P. Yoddha climbed to the fifth spot in the vivo Pro Kabaddi Season 7 standings.

Sushil Gulia gave Jaipur Pink Panthers the dream start with a Super Raid in just the third minute of the contest, however U.P. Yoddha showed immense poise and composure and levelled the score at 5-5 just four minutes later. Raider Surender Gill scored three raid points in two raid attempts to help U.P. Yoddha reduce Jaipur Pink Panthers down to a sole man and the raider then proceeded to showcase his defensive skills, pinning down Sachin Narwal to inflict the All Out and give his side a six-point lead.

The raiders on both sides continued to dominate the contest. Jaipur Pink Panthers’ raiders helped the team cut down the deficit to four, before Shrikant Jadhav’s Super Raid pushed it back up to seven. Deepak Hooda responded with a two-point raid but Rishank Devadiga matched the opposition skipper’s effort in the penultimate raid of the half to ensure that U.P. Yoddha went into the break leading by seven.

U.P. Yoddha carried their momentum into the second half and reduced Jaipur Pink Panthers down to just two men on the mat, but a Super Tackle followed by a successful bonus attempt by Hooda helped his side stay in the contest. Hooda added another couple of points to his team’s score but that would prove to be momentary respite, as just a minute later U.P. Yoddha inflicted a second All-Out and extended their lead to eight.

While Hooda continued to wage a lone battle for his side, U.P. Yoddha remained relentless and outscored Jaipur Pink Panthers 6-3 to take a 34-22 lead in the contest. Trailing by 11 with less than four minutes left on the clock, Jaipur Pink Panthers pushed to get the deficit under seven to earn at least a point from the contest. And they were successful in doing so, as Sandeep Dhull and Vishal effected Super Tackles and Sushil Gulia scored a raid point to cut their team’s deficit to six, but it was U.P. Yoddha who took home five points and climbed into the top six of the league table.

Top Performers:                                                                                                                                                            

U.P. Yoddha

Best Raider – Shrikant Jadhav (9 Raid Points)

Best Defender – Nitesh Kumar (3 Tackle Points)

Jaipur Pink Panthers

Best Raider – Deepak Niwas Hooda (11 Raid Points)

Best Defender – Vishal (3 Tackle Points)