Manpreet relieved after tough win against Delhi

Day 2 of the Ahmedabad leg of VIVO Pro Kabaddi saw Gujarat Fortunegiants become the first team to win both the opening fixtures of their home leg this season. Sachin and captain Sukesh Hegde helped Gujarat to a 29-25 victory over Dabang Delhi K.C., scoring eight and seven points respectively as the team from the national capital succumbed to their fourth straight defeat of the season.

Commenting on what Gujarat’s strategy was against Delhi at the post-match press conference, Gujarat coach Manpreet Singh said: “Delhi have a very good team. They had come in with a good strategy against us. For instance, they had laid a greater emphasis on attacking movements at the start, whereas in our last encounter [in Hyderabad], our team was attacking Delhi more.

“Our plan was that at every chance we should not allow Meraj Sheykh to be confident and also keep Nilesh Shinde's confidence in check. But before the halftime, they played with a lot of confidence. They created such raid opportunities that more than half our team was out. So, for this I will congratulate them a lot that they played very good kabaddi.”

The first match of the night, on the other hand, saw U.P. Yoddha get back to winning ways thanks to a 39-32 win over Telugu Titans in which Nitin Tomar – the most expensive player in the league at Rs 93 lakh and captain of the team – played a pivotal role with a high-quality Super 10 on his return from injury. Their coach J Udaya Kumar, however, dismissed the notion that his side may be overreliant on their skipper. “We have a good bench strength. There are players who can substitute him,” he said with confidence.

Both U.P Yoddha and Gujarat Fortunegiants are back in action at The Arena at Ahmedabad on Sunday against double defending champions Patna Pirates and Season 1 winners Jaipur Pink Panthers respectively.