UP Yoddha finished in the third spot at the points table of season 7
Greater Noida: UP Yoddha finished in the third spot at the points table as they outclassed Bengaluru Bulls 45-32 in the final group stage match of the VIVO Pro Kabaddi League at the Shaheed Vijay Singh Sports Pathik Sports Complex in Greater Noida. They would face Bengaluru Bulls again at Eliminator 1 three days later with the winner facing Dabang Delhi K.C. in the semi-final.
Both U Mumba and Bengaluru Bulls began the game with empty raids but the latter got the first point of the match when Nilesh Kumar tackled Pawan Sehrawat. Saurabh Nandal revived him soon and Pawan showed no mercy thereafter.
The High Flyer escaped from the clutches of four defenders to place his fingers millimetres ahead of the midline. Bengaluru Bulls soon inflicted an All-Out on UP Yoddha in just five minutes into the game. Surender Gill returned the favour to Bengaluru Bulls as he picked up four touchpoints in a Super Raid. UP Yoddha coasted along the momentum to inflict an All-Out on the opposition.
With the scoreline reading 17-14 in Bengaluru Bulls’ favour, Pawan Sehrawat soon completed his Super 10. But, the UP Yoddha defenders understood his game and tackled him twice to reduce the deficit at 22-20 in halftime.
A running hand touch by Shrikant Jadhav on Amit Sheoran and a dash by right corner Nitesh Kumar on Sumit Singh narrowed the gap to one point. UP Yoddha finally surged ahead when they inflicted the second All-Out.
Bengaluru Bulls’ star raider Pawan Sehrawat got tackled thrice as the defenders came always on top whenever he ventured deep. But, the defenders and fellow raider Sumit Singh kept Bengaluru Bulls in the touching distance.
With five minutes left in the game, UP Yoddha bagged three consecutive points to extend their lead to five points. Surender Gill completed two Do-or-Die raids as Bengaluru Bulls got All-Out for the third time and see the game out of their hands. The UP Yoddha raiders utilized the full luxury of time as they won the game with a healthy margin.