U.P. Yoddha’s defence starred as they beat the home side, Telugu Titans, 27-20 in a low-scoring encounter at the Rajiv Gandhi Indoor Stadium in Vizag on Tuesday. A fourth High 5 of the season from Nitesh Kumar, coupled with an excellent performance in offence by Prashanth Kumar Rai gave U.P. Yoddha the victory. Abozar Mohajermighani returned with his fourth High 5 of the season as well for the home side.

Rai got the ball rolling for U.P. Yoddha as he managed to return with two points off the game’s very first raid, getting touches on Vishal Bhardwaj and Nilesh Salunke. Nitesh Kumar followed those points up with a Thigh Hold on Rahul Chaudhari to put U.P. Yoddha up by three points.

Check out the photos from the match here.

Telugu Titans opened their scoring in the 4th minute courtesy a Dash by Mighani on Shrikant Jadhav. They then levelled the scores at 4-4 in the 8th minute by way of an Anil Kumar double Ankle Hold on Rai and soon after got their first lead of the match through Vishal Bhardwaj.

Telugu Titans continued playing on the Do-or-Die raids, but Nitesh got the better of Chaudhari in those raids as he managed to get two more tackle points against him. Telugu Titans got their highest lead of the match in the final minute of the first half as Chaudhari got touches on Nitesh and Jeeva Kumar, leaving the scores reading 11-9. Jadhav got a touch on Anuj Kumar to give U.P. Yoddha the final point of the half, as Telugu Titans took a slender one-point lead into the interval with the scores reading 11-10.

The second half started with both teams following the pattern of playing on the Do-or-Die raids. The defensive units of both teams held their own as U.P. Yoddha got on the board first courtesy a Narender Ankle Hold on Chaudhari in the 3rd minute before Mighani followed it up with a tackle on Rai. Devadiga got the first raid point of the half in the 5th minute as he managed a bonus to level the scores 12-12. A Dash by Sachin Kumar on Nilesh Salunke put U.P. Yoddha back into the lead in the 5th minute.

Mighani inflicted the first Super Tackle of the game in the 10th minute with the help of a double Ankle Hold on Devadiga to reduce the deficit to one point. Mighani also reached his High 5 in this process. Sachin Kumar then got touches on Mighani and Anil Kumar to reduce Telugu Titans to a solitary player on the mat before an Ankle Hold by Nitesh on Chaudhari helped U.P. Yoddha inflict the first All-Out of the match in the 12th minute, thus increasing their lead to five points.

Nitesh had the better of Chaudhari and got his High 5 in the 16th minute as U.P. Yoddha increased their lead to eight points.

Visit the matchcentre to relive the contest here.

At this point, Telugu Titans looked to reduce the margin of defeat to seven points or less in order to get a point out of the contest. Rai didn’t make things easy as he got another two points with touches on Anil Kumar and Farhad Milaghardan to maintain the lead at eight points. Chaudhari, however, managed to score the final point of the match to take the scores to 27-20.

Top Performers

Telugu Titans

Best Raider: Rahul Chaudhari (6 raid points)

Best Defender: Abozar Mohajermighani (6 tackle points)

U.P. Yoddha

Best Raider: Prashanth Kumar Rai (8 tackle points)

Best Defender: Nitesh Kumar (5 tackle points)