Pro Kabaddi League 2018, Match 51: UP Yoddha vs Telugu Titans Review | 06 November 2018

UP Yoddha headed into this game with a tie in their last match and were still in search of their first victory in Greater Noida at Shaheed Vijay Singh Pathik Sports Complex.

Telugu Titans were coming into this match after a resounding victory over three-time defending champions, Patna Pirates. This promised to be a cracker of a game.

Playing 7:

UP Yoddha – Rishank Devadiga, Azad Singh, Sachin Kumar, Shrikant Jadhav, Nitesh Kumar, Narender, Jeeva Kumar.

Telugu Titans – Nilesh Salunke, Mohsen Maghsoudlou, Abozar Mighani, Rahul Chaudhari, Anil Kumar, Krushna Madane, Farhad Milaghdan.

Substitutes:

Bhanu Pratap Tomar from UP Yoddha. Rajnish and C Manoj Kumar from Telugu Titans.

Toss:

Toss was won by Abozar Mighani from Telugu Titans who chose the court.

UP Yoddha started the match with a bang and went into an early lead. Telugu Titans, on the other hand, looked like playing more on the defence. With 10 minutes into the game, Shrikant Jadhav got Super tackled by Abozar Mighani.

UP Yoddha review went in vain. The scoreboard at the time read, 8-5 with Yoddhas in lead. Telugu Titans executed another super tackle in the next two minutes on Rishank Devadiga to avoid an all-out. But, the inevitable took place when Rajnish was tackled by the UP defence.

Players from both the teams in action [Picture Courtesy: ProKabaddi.com]

UP Yoddha’s defense seemed to be on song tonight especially with Rahul Chaudhari off the mat for most of the time.

Though Azad Singh got a green card for too much chatter with less than two minutes left for halftime, he proved his worth by tackling Rahul Chaudhari from Telugu Titans for the umpteenth time.

Rahul Chaudhari ended the half with 0 points as UP Yoddhas led, 19-10 and looked set for their first victory on home turf.

Post-halftime, Sachin Kumar got Nilesh Salunke napping in a pursuit and sent him packing on the bench. Shrikant Jadhav was sent to the bench by aggressive physical contact and so was Rahul Chaudhari in the very next raid. The game was heating up.

With 12 minutes left on the clock, Telugu Titans start playing on the do-or-die raids and they got successful in this strategy as Abozar Mighani made another successful tackle on the UP Yoddhas.

They continued to do so and Rahul Chaudhari suddenly came to life with seven minutes remaining on the clock. Krushna Madhane had a crucial tackle on Rishank Devadiga with six minutes remaining and the Titans sensed a comeback.

With five minutes remaining on the mat, Krushna Madhane tackled the last Yoddha standing inflicting the first all-out for the home team.

Score 26-23. Less than 90 seconds on the game, Telugu Titans leveled the score to 26-all while UP Yoddhas attempted advance tackles on the opposition team players.

Rishank Devadiga led UP Yoddha team in action. [Picture Courtesy: ProKabaddi.com]

The game ended on a tie for the home team yet again, 26-all with which the home team reached the table top for Zone B.

Best raider of the match - Shrikant Jadhav and best defender of the match - Abozar Mighani.

Telugu Titans really came back strong in the last 10 minutes to even the match score at 26-all and share the spoils.

Abozar Mighani, the standing captain in the absence of Vishal Bharadwaj, led the defense with four tackle points.

UP Yoddha kept Rahul Chaudhari under wrap for most of the match as he got tackled five times and didn’t even score a single point for the first three-quarters of the match.

UP Yoddha will be highly disappointed with this tie as they had been leading all throughout the match. Their habit of advance tackles in the dying moments is costing them crucial points. The quest for a maiden win in front of their home fans continues.