PKL: Pune edges past UP; Patna drowns Haryana

Deepak Hooda, Pune’s best raider and Rajesh Mondal played their role to perfection for the winning team while Patna rode on Pardeep's brilliance to trounce a hapless Haryana unit.

Puneri Paltan players celebrate after defeating UP Yoddha.

Puneri Paltan edged out a fighting UP Yoddha 40-38 in a nail-biting opening eliminator of the Vivo Pro-Kabaddi Season 5 at the NSCI SVP Stadium here on Monday.

It was UP Yoddha which sparkled under lights at the start as it reeled off five points in a row. The Pune men were trying to find their feet during this period. And just when they did, the former packed them ‘all out’ for a 10-5 lead.

With the crowd, which included cricketers Mike Hussey and Scott Styris, rooting for its side, Pune continued to work hard and, with just two minutes left for the first break, came up with a similar ‘all out’ effort to finish the half-time on a pleasing note at 18-18. Pune was able to do that mainly because of some fine tackling efforts by its defenders. But when it came to the raid it was UP Yoddha which enjoyed the big edge.

The second session saw the Pune men doing a great job on the mat. They raided and tackled with aplomb and even earned a couple of all out points. Deepak Hooda, the team’s best raider and Rajesh Mondal played their role to perfection. Deepak earned 10 raid points and seven tackle points. And that did a world of good for the team.

Rishank Devadiga was at his best for UP Yoddha. He was the most successful raider of the day with 15 points but failed to carry the team past the finish line.

 

Easy win for Patna Pirates

Captain Pardeep Narwal was rock solid in his raid as two-time champion Patna Pirates tamed Haryana Steelers 69-30 in the second eliminator of the day.
 

The Haryana men had their eyes firmly set on Pardeep, the league's top raider with a tally of 274 raid points before the match. But that did
not matter for the Patna captain as he had the big experience of pocketing points time and again and, with ease.

Pardeep was so hot on his raid that he collected 32 points in all and finished the day with a record 300 points and more overall in the season so far. Monu Goyat fetched some points as well for Patna, which also showed enough strength in the tackling department.

Vikash Khandola and captain Surender had to carry the bulk of the weight for Haryana but midway through they found the load too heavy and the team looked lost in the woods from there.