Hyderabad: UP Yoddhas, the GMR owned franchisee inspire of a loss against Tamil Thalaivas, retained their fourth place in the Ninth Pro Kabaddi League standings. Playing match number 125 of the Ninth Pro Kabaddi League UP Yoddha’s went down 43-28 to Tamil Thalaivas at the Gachibowli Indoor Stadium, Hyderabad. UP Yoddhas took to the mat today with a new team as the regulars, Captain Pardeep Narwal, Rohit Tomar and Sumit were rested while Surender Gill was missing in action due to an injury he sustained in the latter half the season this year. Durgesh Kumar and UP Yoddhas Kabaddi Academy (B K Academy) product Anil Kumar were the highest scorers for the team earning 7 and 6 points respectively. With 66 points to their kitty, UP Yoddhas currently stand 4th in league standings and will next face Puneri Paltan in their last game of the group stage. The match between UP Yoddhas and Puneri Paltans will be telecast LIVE on Star Sports Network and can be streamed LIVE on Disney Plus Hotstar on 09th December, 2022, 08:30 p.m. (IST) onwards on Friday.
UP Yoddhas invited Tamil Thalaivas for an opening raid of the game after winning the toss. Tamil Thalaivas started the game earning quick points in succession and did not allow UP Yoddhas to score a single point in the first five minutes of the game with the scoreboard reading 0-5 to the formers favour. However UP Yoddhas through some good tackles and super tackles tried to catch up but failed to hover anywhere close to Tamil Thalaivas. Tamil Thalaivas maintained a healthy lead throughout the first half with their dominating play and inflicted the first All-Out of the match on UP Yoddhas which helped them end first half 18-9 in their favor.
The second half started with both the teams playing a thrilling game at an even pace however it was UP Yoddhas’ Durgesh Kumar who got them really close to Tamil Thalaivas after pinning down two players which led to them inflicting the first All-Out over Tamil Thalaivas with 13 minutes still left in the second half. UP Yoddha’s were now just six points behind Tamil Thalaivas, however some unforced errors and lack of experience saw UP Yoddha’s fall back to experience their second All-Out of the game with just seven minutes to go while the scoreboard read 35-22 to the letters favour. UP Yoddhas however towards the end of the match displayed some great defensive play with the help of three back to back Super Tackles, however that wasn’t enough for them to make a comeback. The game finally ended with the scoreboard reading 43-28 to the favour of Tamil Thalaivas.
