Welcome to Sportstar's coverage of the Pro Kabaddi League. This is Shyam Vasudevan and I will be taking you through today's PKL 8 match between UP Yoddha and Patna Pirates.
That brings us to the end of our Pro Kabaddi League coverage for the day. We will be back tomorrow. See you then!
Meanwhile, you can also check out our Kings of Kabaddi series from PKL 7 - a happier time pre-COVID when we got to physically sit down with some of the biggest names in the league and hear their stories. You can check out all episodes here:
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Patna Pirates put up a brave show to hand UP Yoddha its fourth successive loss. We now head into the day's second game as Puneri Paltan locks horns with U Mumba in the Maharashtra derby. Join me on the live blog here -
FULL-TIME! Patna Pirates defeats UP Yoddha 37-35.
34-37 Shrikant picks up a point off the last raid of the game but it's too little too late.
33-37 Shrikant does well to sneak out of Shubham's hold and we're down to the last minute of play!
32-37 Nitesh makes an advanced tackle, but it's of little use.
32-36 Shadloui, Shadloui, Shadloui - where have you been all this while? He makes a stunning tackle to get the better of Pardeep and brings up a High-5 !
32-35 Shadloui delivers when it matters the most as the Iranian traps Surender in an iron-clad ankle hold.
32-34 Do-or-die raid for Patna Pirates Sachin has been taken out! That will revive Surender. It's a two-point game now.
31-34 Pardeep gets going as he overpowers Sajin and Neeraj!
Pardeep has been introduced for the last five minutes. Can he inspire his side to a comeback win?
29-34 No way out for Surender as he's pinned to the mat. Advantage Patna Pirates!
29-33 ALL OUT! Pardeep has been introduced but has no luck as he's taken out right away. Pirates have inflicted another All Out here.
28-30 Sachin gets rid of Ashu and UP Yoddha is down to one man!
Pardeep Narwal is warming up! Will we see him on the mat? Four minutes to go!
28-29 Sahil is brought on for the do-or-die raid but he can't get the job done as the defensive chain of Shubham and Ashu tackles him. UP Yoddha has just two men on the mat now!
28-28 Brilliant from Sachin on the do-or-die raid as he gets rid of Shubham.
28-27 Surender goes in for the do-or-die raid but can't get past Shadloui's perfectly-timed ankle hold!
28-26 The four-man UP Yoddha defence, led by Nitesh, does well to restrain Guman. UP Yoddha leads by two with a little over nine minutes left.
27-26 Shadloui finally gets going as he helps in taking out Shrikant.
27-25 SUPER 10 FOR SACHIN! He calmly slips out of the left cover's ankle hold to reduce the deficit to two points!
26-23 Surender comes good in the do-or-die raid as he picks up a bonus and outfoxes Shadloui. SUPER 10 FOR SURENDER!
24-23 Guman scores now to continue the Pirates' comeback.
24-22 Shrikant makes a monstrous raid but to no avail as he's ushered off the court.
24-21 Flattened! Sumit initiated the ankle hold and the rest of the UP Yoddha defence swoops in to pin Sachin to the mat.
23-21 Prashanth volunteers to go in for the do-or-die raid but finds no way out of Sumit's back hold.
Pardeep and Monu remain on the bench....
21-21 ALL OUT! Surender eases past the last man in Sajin and inflicts the All Out. We're back on level terms!
17-20 Surender stars with a dubki and scores two massive points!
HALF-TIME! Patna Pirates' raiding department puts up a fine show to give the side a five-point lead at the interval.
15-20 Prashanth bags a bonus point.
15-19 Surender strikes big! He slips out of the right corner's tackle and Shadloui commits himself too, only for Surender to tag him with ease.
13-19 SUPER TACKLE! That was some fight from Sachin but it's the UP Yoddha defence that has the last laugh. That will revive Surender.
11-19 That's a very weak raid from Aman, who gets crowded out and tackled by Sajin.
10-17 Nitesh's poor start continues as he's on the receiving end of a kick from Guman.
10-16 A first tackle point after a long while for UP Yoddha as Aman eliminates Sachin with an explosive double ankle hold.
Pardeep Narwal and Monu Goyat, the two decorated raiders and the two most-expensive players in PKL's history, remain on the bench! When's the last time we saw that happen?
8-15 Prashant escapes Nitesh's clutches and gets a touch on Shubham while back-tracking to extend his side's lead.
8-13 ALL OUT! Shadloui finally strikes as he traps Ashu in a fine ankle hold. Patna Pirates has inflicted the All Out and taken a five-point lead.
7-9 There's no stopping Sachin! The youngster gets rid of Nitesh and Sumit and he's raced to seven points already!
7-8 Surender comes back but he's taken out by the defensive chain of Guman and Neeraj. The Pirates lead for the first time today!
7-7 The UP Yoddha defence has no answers here! Sachin's pace has them scampering for cover and he coolly tags Prashant.
7-6 Shadloui makes another error as Shrikant evades his tackle with aplomb. Quite uncharacteristic from Shadloui.
6-6 Sachin is at it again and he outfoxes Shubham, the left cover.
6-5 Shrikant has been entrusted with the do-or-die raid and he gets an easy toe touch on Sunil.
5-5 Sachin sets the mat ablaze with his pace and lands a running hand touch on Aman.
5-4 Excellent raid from Sachin as he gets rid of the right cover and right in, including Nitesh!
5-2 Shrikant Jadhav gets a point now as he escapes Sunil's weak ankle hold.
4-2 Nitesh joins the action! He executes a beautiful ankle hold on Prashant and gets ample support from Ashu Singh.
3-2 Sajin lunges into a double thigh hold to get rid of Surender, not before the raider managed a bonus point.
2-1 First points on the board for Patna Pirates as Prashant Rai gets on the scorecard.
2-0 Surender strikes again as he gets the better of Shadloui in the left corner.
1-0 Surender Gill scores in his first raid to get the game going. Neeraj Kumar gifted him a freebie.
Patna Pirates won the toss and chose the right side of the court, UP Yoddha will raid first.
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7:30pm: TEAM NEWS!
UP Yoddha: Nitesh Kumar, Sumit, Ashu, Shubham, Aman, Shrikant Jadhav, Surender Gill
Patna Pirates: Prashanth Kumar Rai, Neeraj Kumar, Sachin Tanwar, Guman Singh, Sunil Narwal, Shadloui Chiyaneh, Sajin
7:20pm: Pardeep Narwal seems to have crumbled under the weight of expectations at UP Yoddha. He was expected to spearhead the team's raiding department, but has done little to help his team’s cause. Although he did become the first player to score 1200 points in the PKL’s history earlier in the season, he has managed only 104 points from 211 raids in 15 matches. In comparison, Surender Gill, who is playing just his second season, has amassed 129 points from 14 matches and has made two raids lesser than Pardeep. What has led to this? I analyse -
7:10pm: Patna Pirates had its worst game of the season as it lost by 21 points to the Jaipur Pink Panthers in its last game. The side conceded 51 points to succumb to one of its biggest defeats. The Pirates defence, which has been the best in the league this season, managed zero tackle points in the first half against Jaipur and gave up 15 raid points. The second half wasn’t much better either, as it mustered only five tackle points while giving up 12 raid points. The raiding unit scored 24 of the team’s 31 points but gave up 14 tackle points to Jaipur’s defence. Patna Pirates will also want to avenge its loss earlier in the season to UP Yoddha and exact revenge today.
7pm: UP Yoddha comes into today's game after slipping to its third successive loss yesterday. The side lost 26-31 to Bengaluru Bulls yesterday in a game that saw the defence shine but the raiders failed to get going. Skipper Nitesh Kumar had a good game as he picked up six tackle points and Sumit also excelled with four tackle points, while Ashu Singh scored three. The raiding unit, however, had a rough night. Surender Gill had a rare off day, while Pardeep Narwal’s woes continued as he managed just four points. The side will be eager to snap its winless run and get back to winning ways.
6:50pm: The 2022 edition of the Sportstar Aces Awards is back and we are celebrating the marvellous year for Indian Sports that 2021 was. From Neeraj Chopra and the other Olympic and Paralympic medallists to the Indian cricket team, we have a bunch of nominees who need your vote to win! Support your favourite athlete/team here .
6:40pm: If you've just hopped on the PKL train, fret not, we have you covered. Here's a simple explainer that covers all the rules of the game and the various terms such as 'All Out', 'Do-or-die' and 'Super Tackle' -
6:30pm: Hey guys, welcome to our PKL coverage of the day. Before we get to today's game, here's a recap of what went down in the PKL over the last fortnight -
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