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 U Mumba.
UP Yoddha earns a superb win over U Mumba to become the second team to qualify for the Pro Kabaddi League (PKL 8) playoffs. Pardeep Narwal (six points) and Surender Gill (eight points) did very well to give the side a six-point lead at the break. U Mumba, however, came out all guns blazing in the second half as it not only erased the deficit but also took the lead. Surender continued to chip away at the U Mumba defence and Shrikant Jadhav came off the bench and made an instant impact to keep his side within touching distance.
UP Yoddha's defenders, Shubham Kumar and Sumit, made crucial tackles under pressure at the death to take their side ahead and Surender wrapped up the win with a superb multi-point raid. Joy for UP Yoddha as it continues to have a shot at a maiden title, agony for U Mumba as it will play no part in the playoffs.
We now move to the second game of the day as Bengaluru Bulls locks horns with Haryana Steelers. Join my colleague Nihit Sachdeva on the blog here -
FULL-TIME! UP Yoddha beats U Mumba 35-28 and storms into the playoffs!
35-28 ALL OUT! Surender gets the better of both Fazel and Harendra to clinch the All Out in the final raid of the game!
31-28 UP Yoddha banks on its defence and the move works wonders as Sumit executes a phenomenal ankle hold on Prathap! That has got to be the game!
U Mumba has just three men but UP Yoddha is not interested in bagging any raid points!
30-28 Prathap makes an outstanding hand touch off his very first raid in under 10 seconds!
A final throw of the dice from U Mumba as Prathap replaces Harendra. "Your speed is good. Go for the running hand touch," Fazel tells him.
UP Yoddha is down to two men - Harendra and Fazel - and an All Out would all but decide the game!
30-27 That's a Herculean tackle! He does ever-so-well to yank Ajith away from the mid-line. Ajith was less than an inch away from escaping with a Super Raid!
29-27 Shrikant comes to UP Yoddha's rescue once again as he lands a sharp kick on Rinku.
"Finish the raids in under 10 seconds!" U Mumba coach Rajguru tells Ajith.
28-27 That's a bone-crunching tackle! Shrikanth, Nitesh and Ashu take out Abhishek. UP Yoddha has the lead now with two minutes to go!
27-27 That's superb from Shrikant as he comes off the bench and bags a crucial point. Rahul's off to the bench.
Abhishek is grimacing in pain and seems to have done some serious damage to his already injured shoulder. That could prove to be detrimental from a U Mumba perspective.
26-27 Abhishek delivers on the do-or-die raid but he seems to have hurt his right shoulder in the process!
26-26 Fazel goes for the ankle and Rahul makes the dash as the duo flattens Surender on the mat.
26-25 That was something special from the UP Yoddha defence! They just about manage to pull Ajinkya away from the mid-line.
25-25 Pardeep is relegated to the bench as Rahul traps him in a superb ankle hold.
25-23 That's a schoolboy error. Rinku, who has been so good today, steps out of bounds and UP Yoddha gets an easy point.
24-23 Ajinkya now stars with a two-point raid! End to end action here and we head into the final 10 minutes!
24-21 SUPER RAID! You cannot never count Surender out. He escapes Rahul's tackle and tags two more U Mumba men to claim three huge points!
21-21 Gurdeep makes amends as he stands tall to restrict Ajith.
Pardeep has been very quiet in the second half - he's managed zero points!
20-21 U Mumba has taken the lead for the first time today as Harendra gets the better of Pardeep yet again!
U Mumba has erased a seven-point deficit in under seven minutes! That is some recovery!
20-20 ALL OUT! U Mumba's comeback tale continues as the defence gets rid of Shrikanth Jadhav and the scores are level. Oh and it's a HIGH-5 FOR RINKU!
19-17 The point is awarded to U Mumba and UP Yoddha is on the brink of an All Out!
UP Yoddha seems to be in all sorts of trouble here. Gurdeep pulls Ajith's jersey and that should have him off the mat.
U Mumba has made a brilliant start to the second half to make it a three-point game in quick time!
19-16 The dubki does not work for the dubki king this time around as Harendra gets the better of Pardeep.
19-15 Two points for Abhishek! He escapes Shubham's clutches and manages a touch on Ashu while retreating.
18-13 Surender has been tasked with the do-or-die and he's taken out, courtesy of a perfectly-executed ankle hold from Rahul.
No points in the first two raids as Surender and Ajith return empty-handed.
HALF-TIME: UP Yoddha leads 18-12 at the break. U Mumba will need a comeback and a massive one at that! Remember, the side needs an outright win today to retain its hopes of a playoff berth! An enthralling second half to look forward to!
18-12 Ajith picks up his third point of the game as he evades Sumit's tackle with a fine frog jump.
18-11 A good team tackle from U Mumba as the defence follows Rinku in his quest to tackle Pardeep.
18-10 ALL OUT FOR UP YODDHA! Nitesh joins the party with a magnificent tackle on Harendra. UP Yoddha now has a healthy eight-point lead.
15-9 There's no stopping Surender! He leaps over Rinku's dash and U Mumba is down to one last man!
14-9 Ajinkya returns to the bench empty-handed as Sumit tackles him with ease.
Ajinkya Kapre has been brought on by U Mumba for the do-or-die raid.
13-9 SUPER TACKLE! Rinku does stunningly well and gets the needed support from Harendra to earn his side two crucial points. Three men on the mat now for U Mumba!
12-7 That was super close! Shivam falls millimeters short of the mid-line. The pressure is building on U Mumba now.
11-7 Fazel does not get any support and Surender coolly waltzes away with a point. UP Yoddha leads by four!
Just the one point in five raids for Abhishek. Bit of a slow start for the mercurial raider.
10-7 Ajith has been taken out but UP Yoddha's Gurdeep takes a heavy knock to his head. Ouch!
9-7 Surender gets the job done! He ducks under Rahul's hold and that will bring Pardeep back on the mat sooner.
We've seen just how important Pardeep has been to UP Yoddha's resurgence late this season. The top priority will be to revive the Dubki King now.
8-7 Pardeep has been tackled for the first time today as Harendra combines with Rahul to flatten him on the mat.
8-6 Ashu tries to blindside Ajith with a dash from the right but the latter was too close to the mid-line! An easy point for the raider.
8-5 Wow, it took something special from Shubham to contain Abhishek! Excellent stuff from the UP Yoddha defence.
7-5 That's poor from Rahul....he launches into a terribly late tackle and gets none of Pardeep.
6-5 Ajith Kumar, welcome to the match! The U Mumba raider leaps some 10 feet over Sumit and gets a touch on Ashu to bag two massive points. What a fiery start to the game!
6-3 Pardeep outfoxes Fazel! He evades the Iranian's advanced tackle and picks up his fourth point of the game.
Fazel is down on his haunches right after the tackle. Looks like the rib injury he sustained earlier in the season seems to be troubling him yet again.
5-3 Fazel Atrachali strikes! He traps Ankush with a double thigh hold and gets off the mark.
5-2 That is a fine piece of work from Ashu! He shows great presence of mind to restrict the mighty Abhishek.
4-2 Rinku picks up a fortunate tackle point as Surender slips right in front of him.
4-1 First points for U Mumba as Sumit, the left corner, fails to grapple Abhishek.
4-0 Surender Gill proves the fact that he's not just a raider! He executes a phenomenal tackle to deny Ajith Kumar.
3-0 SUPER RAID! UP Yoddha could not have asked for a better start as Pardeep Narwal escapes Rinku's ankle hold and tags another defender, along with a bonus, to bag three points!
UP Yoddha won the toss and chose the right side of the court, U Mumba will raid first.
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7:30pm: TEAM NEWS!
UP Yoddha: Pardeep Narwal, Surender Gill, Ashu Singh, Shubham Kumar, Ankush, Nitesh Kumar, Sumit
U Mumba: Abhishek Singh, Fazel Atrachali, Ajith Kumar, Harendra Kumar, Shivam, Rinku, Rahul Sethpal
7:20pm: The Pro Kabaddi League's (PKL 8) playoff stage will get underway on February 21, while the final will be played on February 25, it was announced on Wednseday. Here is the full schedule:
7:10pm: U Mumba’s promising season has come to a screeching half after two lackluster performance in its last two outings. Two defeats by a combined margin of 27 points has tanked its league position and its score difference. Nothing short of massive victories in U Mumba's next two matches will help its bid for a playoff spot. A defeat, or even a tie, will end their campaign, meaning U Mumba has to be perfect in their final two matches to stand of chance of earning a spot in the top-six.
7pm: Four wins in its last five matches havs seen U.P. Yoddha climb to third on the points table. The key to its resurgence has been Pardeep Narwal’s impeccable form. After slow start, Pardeep has found his footing and has registered four straight Super 10s. The Record-Breaker has climbed to eighth on the list of the league’s leading raid point scorers and has notched eight Super Raids, only two fewer than Maninder Singh, who leads the league in that category.
6:50pm: “ Mereko dil me laga ki apun bhi kabhi yaha tak ja sakta hai (I felt deep down that there will come a day when I can also play in the League),” Aslam Inamdar recalls thinking when he first watched the Pro Kabaddi League (PKL) in 2014. A lanky teenager who was nursing a fractured leg after playing in the sub-junior nationals, Aslam yearned to make a name for himself in the world of kabaddi. Read more about his journey here -
6:40pm: 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 .
6:30pm: Hello folks and welcome to our PKL coverage for the day! We have a clash between two teams who are in the hunt for a spot in the playoffs as UP Yoddha takes on U Mumba. Before we get to that, here's a recap of what went down in the PKL over the last fortnight -
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