Pro Kabaddi League: UP Yoddha Enter Playoffs, Pradeep Stars in Patna Pirates’ Thrilling Win
UP Yoddha crushed Dabang Delhi 50-33 in their first home match of the season to enter the Pro Kabaddi League Season 7 playoffs at the Shaheed Vijay Singh Pathik Sports Complex in Greater Noida on Saturday. Monu Goyat, in front of a vocal home crowd, was the star of the night with 11 raid points in Yoddha’s dominating performance.
In the absence of experienced stars like Naveen Kumar, Ravinder Pahal and Joginder Narwal, Delhi failed to put up a a challenge with Manu Goyat marking his return to form with a Super 10. Alongside Shrikant Jadhav, Goyat reduced Delhi to three men inside the first three minutes. A Super Tackle on Surender Gill delayed the All Out for Dabang Delhi K.C. but Goyat continued his fine start and put in two more successful raids to finally inflict it three-minutes later.
Sombir showed some resistance in defence by sending Jadhav to the bench and he found support in Neeraj Narwal, who reduced the score difference down to five with a Super Raid. But Goyat’s excellent raiding continued, with Jadhav and Gill scoring regularly as well, giving U.P. Yoddha a 22-12 lead going into halftime.
The second period saw more good work from Goyat, who brought up his Super 10 in just the second raid of the half, to reduce Delhi to a solitary man. Nitesh Kumar made short work of Sheykh to inflict another All Out on to extend UP’s lead to 12.
The contest between Patna Pirates and Gujarat Fortunegiants turned out to be a thriller. Pardeep Narwal collected 17 raiding points as Patna edged past Gujarat 39-33. More GB put in a valiant effort but his all-round show wasn’t enough.
Although, Gujarat started the contest on front foot through Sonu and Rohit Gulia before Narwal helped Patna make it 5-all by the fourth minute. Patna then took the lead before Gujarat fought back and entered the half-time with a 19-14 lead. More and Gulia then extended the lead to 11 points after resumption.
The see-saw affair saw Patna bounce back with Pradeep reaching his Super 10 before three more successful raids followed and later inflicted the All Out to give his side a slim one-point lead. With a couple of minutes to play, Parvesh Bhaniswal’s tackle on Pardeep all but sealed the game for Gujarat before a late intervention from substitute Jang Kun Lee revived his captain to level the scoreline at 33-33. Eventually, Patna sealed the deal.