Pro Kabaddi League 2018: UP Yoddha beat Puneri Paltan in tight affair

Prashanth Kumar Rai and Shrikant Jadhav combined to score 14 raid points to lead UP Yoddha to another victory. At crucial moments of the match, UP Yoddha held their nerve as they beat the home team.

UP Yoddha kept cool calm and collected and managed to beat Puneri Paltan 29-23 in an evenly contested Pro Kabaddi league match on Wednesday. Prashanth Kumar Rai and Shrikant Jadhav combined to score 14 raid points to lead UP Yoddha to another victory. At crucial moments of the match, UP Yoddha held their nerve as they beat the home team in front of a boisterous crowd. Leading raider of the season Nitin Tomar had a quiet match by his high standards as he scored just five points.

UP Yoddha are now second in Zone B table. (Pro Kabaddi)

Shrikant Jadhav opened UP Yoddha’s account with a two-point raid in the first minute as Monu responded for Puneri Paltan with an equivalent raid. The two raiders scored a point apiece in the next few minutes as both teams were level at 3-3. UP Yoddha led 8-4 in the eighth minute as Prashanth Kumar Rai scored four raid points in two raids.

It took Nitin Tomar nine minutes to open his account in the match. A two-point raid in the 14th minute by Nitin Tomar reduced the deficit to one-point for Puneri Paltan. UP Yoddha went into the halfP time leading 16-12 and holding a slight edge over Pune.

There were a slew of empty raids at the start of the first half as UP Yoddha maintained four-point lead in the 23rd minute. A super tackle in the 30th minute by UP Yoddha saw them lead 21-17. It was a low-scoring second half as in 10 minutes both teams managed to score five points apiece.

In the next round of matches, Patna Pirates will take on Jaipur Pink Panthers while Gujarat Fortunegiants face Tamil Thalaivas.