UP Yoddha on Saturday defeated hosts Haryana Steelers 37-30 in a Pro kabaddi League match in Panchkula to inch closer towards the play-off rounds.
UP Yoddha is now just one win away from qualifying for the playoffs.
In the second match, Gujarat Fortunegiants looked in good form right from the get-go and managed to get an emphatic 50-21 win over Tamil Thalaivas. Sonu was the star with 15 raid points for Fortunegiants.
This was the third time Thalaivas defence conceded 50 or more points in a match this season.
Rahul Chaudhari reached a milestone of 1000 PKL points with seven minutes left in the match but that was perhaps the only positive story in yet another hapless performance by the Thalaivas.
In a dramatic first encounter of the day, Shrikant Jadhav ended with another super 10 for the season, scoring 11 points in the win.
The other top performers included Nitesh Kumar and Surender Gill, who scored seven apiece in defence and attack respectively.
The Yoddha’s now have 58 points from 18 matches and are placed fifth in the points table.
It was good news for UP Yoddha On Saturday as their star raider Monu Goyat returned to the side from an injury.
Backed by the extra fire power, it was the Haryana boy, Surender Gill who got things going for UP Yoddha with a super raid.
UP Yoddha led 4-0 with just a minute into the half. With the super raid, Surender Gill also completed his 50 raid points in his first season. Steelers bounced back with a super raid by Vinay.
In another few minutes, it was Shrikant Jadhav who achieved another milestone of his PKL career by passing 350 raid points. UP Yoddha, with seven minutes left in the half, led 13-7.
Haryana had a little burst of points in the end moments of the first half and reduced the gap to 11-15 going into the break.
The second half started with a super tackle from the young pillars of UP Yoddha. Sumit and Nitesh combined to ensure Vinay was not allowed to escape. UP Yoddha had a seven-point lead at the beginning of the second half.
Jadhav then scored a double pointer in dramatic fashion with his foot just crossing the line and ensuring Dharmaraj Cheralathan and Ravi Kumar were out.
With 15 minutes left in the half, UP Yoddha led by 24-16.
It seemed Haryana might just make an epic comeback as with the first all-out of the match they reduced the gap to 21-25.
But unfortunately for Haryana, all of a sudden they made two errors back-to-back with first Vinay stepping out of bounds and then Vikas Kandola doing the same on his raid. UP Yoddha now had a seven point lead at 29-22.
The visitors then inflicted an all-out on Haryana and extended their lead to eight points at 36-28 before finally sealing the contest.
UP Yoddha will next play Dabang Delhi in the first match of their home leg at the Shaheed Vijay Singh Pathik Sports Complex, Greater Noida on October 5.
