Tamil Thalaivas secure playoff berth after beating U.P. Yoddhas

Narender and captain Ajinkya Pawar put on a stunning show for Tamil Thalaivas, who defeated U.P. Yoddhas by a scoreline of 43-28 at the Gachibowli Indoor Stadium in Hyderabad on Wednesday. The win for Tamil Thalaivas meant they secured a berth in the playoffs at Mumbai and became the fifth team to progress to the next round.  

Tamil Thalaivas were out of the blocks the quickest with Narender and Ajinkya Pawar giving them a 5-0 lead in the first few minutes. And while Anil Kumar picked up the first points for U.P. Yoddhas, Tamil Thalaivas were well and truly in control in the initial phase of play.  

As the half progressed, U.P. Yoddhas kept chipping away at the lead with Anil doing most of the heavy lifting for his side. However, Tamil Thalaivas were doing enough to stay in front with the likes of Himanshu, Mohit and Arpit Saroha providing Narender and Ajinkya with ample support.  

For most of the first half, the U.P. Yoddhas’ raiding wasn’t as effective as they would have liked it to be, while Tamil Thalaivas’ defenders had a spring in their steps. By the time the players stopped for a breather, Tamil Thalaivas led by a scoreline of 18-9.

Even though the second half started off with both sides trading points early on, Tamil Thalaivas were in control of proceedings. With a little over 13 minutes to go, U.P. Yoddhas landed their first All-Out of the game, and were raising hopes of a comeback as they ate into Tamil Thalaivas’ lead.  

With 10 minutes left in the game, U.P. Yoddhas had reduced Tamil Thalaivas’ lead to 6 points. However, soon after a time-out, Tamil Thalaivas upped the ante once again, and marched on, making it a 13-point lead with 6 minutes to go. Narender had already registered his Super 10 while Ajinkya too was scoring points for fun. Eventually, Tamil Thalaivas walked off the mat with the win and flight tickets to Mumbai.  

 

Top Performers

Tamil Thalaivas

Best Raider - Narender (10 Raid Points)

Best Defender - Arpit Saroha (5 Tackle Points)

U.P. Yoddhas

Best Raider - Durgesh Kumar (7 Raid Points)

Best Defender - Gurdeep (3 Tackle Points)

 

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