Pune: U.P. Yoddhas put up an emphatic performance to register a 43-24 victory over Telugu Titans in the second game in the vivo Pro Kabaddi League Season 9 at the Shree Shivchhatrapati Sports Complex, Balewadi, here on Monday.
Surender Gill (13 points) and Pardeep Narwal (9 points) were the best players for the Yoddhas.
A slow start to the game saw both teams trade raid points constantly. The bane of the Titans’ horrible run in the league has been their defence, and in the opening stages of this encounter it didn’t seem like they had improved. Surender Gill and Pardeep Narwal were running riot through their ranks as they pleased, able to pick up bonus points with ease.
Despite their ineffective defending, the Titans managed to keep things on an even keel for the most part. In the last five minutes of the first half though, the Yoddhas pulled away, Gill in particular was rampant. They got the first ALL OUT of the game with the clock ticking away, to extend their lead to 16-8. Their dominance in the final five minutes was stark, they scored 11 points to a mere one by the Titans in that period – as they went into the break leading 20-9.
The Titans kicked off the second half with a SUPER TACKLE, Mohit Pahal catching Narwal out, to lift hopes of a resurgence. Those hopes were extinguished soon as the Yoddhas took complete control of the proceedings and secured two more ALL OUTS in quick succession to surge into a 36-12 lead.
From thereon it was just a matter of time, as the Yoddhas closed out a huge win to move up a place on the table.
