Pro Kabaddi: UP Yoddha beats Bengal Warriors, Haryana Steelers upsets Dabang Delhi
UP Yoddha rode on a fine defensive display to defeat Bengal Warriors 40-36, while Haryana Steelers banked on Vikash Kandola's Super 10 to beat Dabang Delhi 36-33 in the Pro Kabaddi League (PKL 8) on Friday.
Published : Jan 21, 2022 22:53 IST
UP Yoddha rode on a fine defensive display to defeat Bengal Warriors 40-36, while Haryana Steelers banked on Vikash Kandola's Super 10 to beat Dabang Delhi 36-33 in the Pro Kabaddi League (PKL 8) on Friday.
The win takes UP Yoddha to fourth on the points table, while Bengal Warriors slipped to the fifth spot. UP Yoddha largely banked on its defensive prowess to get the better of Bengal Warriors, while the raiding duo of Pardeep Narwal and Surender Gill each scored nine points. The star performer of the evening was Bengal Warriors captain Maninder Singh, who scored 19 points. However, his side's defence was below par and managed only four points in the entire game.
The first half was a closely-fought affair with neither team able to take a sizeable lead. UP Yoddha’s defensive pair of Sumit and Nitesh Kumar was in incredible form as they thwarted the Bengal raiders. But the defending champion did well to delay the All Out as Maninder managed a mini-revival with a three-point Super Raid. However, Pardeep keot the pressure on the Bengal Warriors and his side eventually clinched the All Out in the 16th minute nd led 19-18 at the break.
UP Yoddha’s defence dominated the early minutes of the second half as Sumit trapped Maninder in an ankle hold three times in quick succession. The side's trio of raiders – Shrikant Jadhav, Pardeep and Surender – scored points at regular intervals and UP Yoddha inflicted the second All Out with eight minutes remaining to claim a seven-point lead.
Maninder got his Super 10 to ensure his side stayed in the hunt and h made it a four-point game with three minutes remaining but substitute Gaurav Kumar’s stunning Super Tackle on him gave UP Yoddha the advantage and the game.
- Vikash takes Steelers past Dabang Delhi -
Vikash Kandola was the star for Haryana Steelers as it beat neighbour Dabang Delhi 36-33 in the first game of the evening. Dabang Delhi once again looked listless in the raiding department in star raider Naveen Kumar’s absence.
Haryana dominated the first 20 minutes with Vikash taking up the primary raiding duties. He was supported well by Vinay and Ashish as they clinched an All Out close to the 15th minute of the game. The Delhi defenders had a poor outing with no successful tackles before the interval.
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Vijay and the veteran Sandeep Narwal handled the raiding duties and the latter tried his best and was perhaps the only positive for Delhi in a first half that ended 19-11 in Haryana’s favour.
Krishan got two tackle points from the right corner for Delhi as the side plotted a comeback but Steelers’ Vikash ensured Delhi remained on the backfoot with his classic fast raiding. However, in a twist in the tale, five of Haryana Steelers' players followed a Dabang Delhi raider into the lobby without a touch. The move resulted in five points for Dabang Delhi and revived the team back on the mat. Vikash Kandola delayed the All Out with his brave raiding that got him a Super 10 but Delhi eventually got it with seven minutes remaining to reduce Haryana’s lead to three points.
The Haryana Steelers looked shaken after the All Out and Dabang Delhi’s Neeraj Narwal picked up two two-point raids to level the scores. But Haryana Steelers' young defender Jaideep Dahiya took matters into his own hands in the dying minutes as he pulled off two stunning tackles to put his side ahead and ensure it took all the five points on offer.