U.P. Yoddha move up to fifth spot after win over Gujarat Fortunegiants

U.P. Yoddha moved to the fifth spot in the vivo Pro Kabaddi Season 7 standings after a 33-26 win over Gujarat Fortunegiants at the Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose Indoor Stadium in Kolkata on Monday. Shrikant Jadhav was their highest-scoring raider on the night with six raid points, while Sumit picked up a High 5 in defence.

It was a slow start to the contest, with both sets of defenders dominating for most of the first half. The raiders started to grow into the match in the second quarter of the game but neither team was in control even though U.P. Yoddha had a slender 6-5 lead.

Gujarat Fortunegiants got their noses in front in the 11th minute but couldn’t quite build any momentum and open up a gap between them and U.P. Yoddha. The circumspect style of play from both teams continued through the half as most of the points came in Do-or-Die situations.

The match finally burst into life in the closing stages of the half after a couple of successful raids by Surender Gill and a few crunching tackles saw U.P. Yoddha enforce an All-Out and take a five-point lead. A two-point raid by Rishank Devadiga moments later ensured that U.P. Yoddha extended their lead to 16-9 going into the break.

U.P. Yoddha’s first success of the second period also came in the form of a two-point raid and this time Jadhav was the raider. But a Super Tackle on Jadhav by Gujarat Fortunegiants’ skipper Sunil Kumar soon after sent U. P. Yoddha’s leading raid points scorer this season to the bench.

However, Sunil was less fortunate in his side’s next Super Tackle attempt as Gill successfully managed to escape him to score another multi-point raid that inflicted an All-Out and extended U.P. Yoddha’s lead to 24-12.

Undeterred, Gujarat Fortunegiants responded in style with a four-point Super Raid from Sachin Tanwar. The two-time finalists then defended with discipline, while Sachin picked up quick raid points to help usher in an All-Out on U.P. Yoddha and reduce their lead to 25-21 with a little under nine minutes left on the clock.

Gujarat Fortunegiants went on to give it their all and tried to reduce the deficit even further through aggression on both ends of the mat. However, U.P Yoddha’s defence upped their game in the closing stages and were decisive in their tackles. Their raiders, too, ran down the clock intelligently to help them secure a seven-point win.

Top Performers:

U.P. Yoddha –

Best Raider – Shrikant Jadhav (6 Raid Points)

Best Defender – Sumit (5 Tackle Points)

Gujarat Fortunegiants –

Best Raider – Sachin Tanwar (10 Raid Points)

Best Defender – Sunil Kumar (6 Tackle Points)