U.P. Yoddhas start Season 9 with nail-biting win against Jaipur Pink Panthers

U.P. Yoddhas and Jaipur Pink Panthers played out a roller coaster of a contest in the third match of vivo Pro Kabaddi League Season 9 at the Shree Kanteerava Indoor Stadium in Bengaluru on Friday. Both sides kept picking up points and were neck and neck throughout the match but the Yoddhas held their nerve in the end to defeat the Panthers 34-32.

Raiders Rohit Tomar and Surender Gill chipped in with points as U.P. Yoddhas took a 6-4 lead early on. However, Arjun Deshwal pulled off a couple of brilliant raids and turned the tide to help Jaipur Pink Panthers to an 8-6 by the 12th minute. Soon after, Jaipur inflicted an All-Out and extended their lead to 12-7. Surender Gill then chipped in with a couple of successful raids for U.P. Yoddhas, but the Panthers still led 15-12 at the end of the first half.

U.P. Yoddhas levelled the scores at 15-15 through a stupendous raid by Surender Gill and a great tackle by Sumit at the beginning of the second half. Moments later, Nitesh Kumar tackled Devank to help the Yoddhas inflict an All-Out and take the lead at 18-16. Star raider Pardeep Narwal also stepped up his game in the second half as the Yoddhas further extended their lead to 21-16 in the 27th minute. V Ajith Kumar did single-handedly get the Panthers back in the match with a Super Raid, but soon after, Pardeep's heroics propelled U.P. Yoddhas to a five-point lead once again at 25-20.

Bhavani Rajput executed a Super Raid in the 32nd minute and kept the Panthers in the game. The Yoddhas still managed to hold on to their lead at 28-24 in the 36th minute even though they only had two players on the mat. But, moments later, the Panthers inflicted an All-Out to catch up with the Yoddhas.

The Panthers and the Yoddhas fought toe-to-toe in the last couple of minutes of the match, but raiders Surender Gill and Pardeep Narwal came up trumps in the closing stages of the game to help U.P. Yoddhas to their first win of the season.

 

Top Performers

Jaipur Pink Panthers

Best Raider - Arjun Deshwal (8 points)

Best Defender - Abhishek KS (4 points)

U.P. Yoddhas

Best Raider - Surender Gill (8 points)

Best Defender - Ashu Singh (4 points)

Where to watch vivo Pro Kabaddi Season 9 LIVE?

Catch all the LIVE action from vivo Pro Kabaddi Season 9 on the Star Sports Network and LIVE streaming on Disney+Hotstar.