Pune: It was a game of two halves in Match 91 of PKL Season 11 in the Badminton Hall at the Balewadi Sports Complex, as the Telugu Titans and UP Yoddhas played out a nail-biter. The UP Yoddhas, who trailed at half-time, roared back in the second half, winning the game by a scoreline of 36-33. For the UP Yoddhas, it was Gagan Gowda who bagged 15 points while Bhavani Rajput added 6 more to the cause.
Vijay Malik and Ashish Narwal opened the scoring for the Telugu Titans, which gave them an early lead, despite a slow start to the contest. In the early exchanges, the Telugu Titans looked solid in defence, while the raiders were chipping in with quick and timely raids.
The early domination paid off, as the Telugu Titans landed an ALL OUT on the UP Yoddhas in the 8th minute of the contest. That gave them a 6-point lead and put them in the driver’s seat midway through the first half. But after that, the likes of Hitesh and Bhavani Rajput were hoping to lead the fight back for the UP Yoddhas, however, Vijay Malik, Ashish Narwal and Sagar had other plans.
As the first half wore on, the UP Yoddhas found it hard to put one past the Telugu Titans, who were building on their advantage. At the break, the Telugu Titans led 17-10.
The UP Yoddhas came out of the blocks quicker than their opponents in the second half, as Gagan Gowda made an impact with a flurry of quick raids. They picked up the first five points of the half, to reduce the deficit to two points. In the sixth minute of the half, the UP Yoddhas picked up an ALL OUT on the Telugu Titans and stormed into the lead. The momentum was with the UP Yoddhas, and the attacking approach made it clear that they were keen to build on the lead.
At the half-hour mark, the UP Yoddhas had their noses out in front with a 3-point lead. At this point, the Telugu Titans had scored 2 points in the first ten minutes of the half, while the UP Yoddhas had picked up 12 of their own to turn the game on its head.
Soon after Gagan Gowda notched up his Super 10, and scored a three-point raid with seven minutes to go, which gave the UP Yoddhas a 6-point lead. The Telugu Titans were staring down the barrel of a defeat, before Manjeet stepped up with a six-point raid, to bring his team right back into the contest. It is also the highest points scored on a single raid in this season, so far.
In the final couple of minutes, the Telugu Titans landed an ALL OUT on the UP Yoddhas, which gave them a slender lead, in what was turning out to be a very exciting game. The UP Yoddhas though found a way back yet again, and Vijay Malik going out of bounds on the mat put them in box seat. Eventually, the UP Yoddhas picked up a couple of more points in the final seconds of the game, to register a close win.
Schedule for PKL Season 11 match on Thursday, December 5:
Match 1 – Dabang Delhi K.C. vs UP Yoddhas – 8 pm
Match 2 – Jaipur Pink Panthers vs U Mumba – 9 pm
