Pro Kabaddi: UP Yoddha Thrash Tamil Tahalivas, Jaipur Pink Panther Play Out Draw With Gujarat Fortunegiants

UP Yoddha defeated Tamil Thalaivas 42-22 in a one-sided contest in Jaipur on Saturday. Shrikant Jadhav picked up eight points for UP Yoddha, who scored 19 raid points in total. In the other match, the home team, Jaipur Pink Panthers had to settle for a draw 28-28 against Gujarat Fortunegiants at Swai Mansingh Stadium. For Pink Panthers, Vishal showed exceptional defensive skills as he picked up six tackle points in the 100th match of this season's Pro Kabaddi League.

Both teams started the match cautiously. The raiders struggled to get a stranglehold of the match as the defenders kept putting in successful tackles. The Pink Panthers, boosted by the return of Vishal, looked slightly better, and the marginal difference in quality was all the Pink Panthers needed to inflict an All-Out on the Gujarat Fortunegiants in the 13th minute.

The All-Out also opened by a 6-point lead for the home side. Both sets of raiders continued to be below average post the All-Out with only Jaipur captain Deepak Niwas Hooda impressing in his raids as Gujarat coach Manpreet Singh looked distraught from sidelines. The first half ended 15-10 with Jaipur on top.

Jaipur started the second half on the front foot with Vishal picking up a High 5 but the Gujarat defence picked their game up to halt the Jaipur dominance. The visitors picked up their All-Out in the 7th minute of the second half to cut short Jaipur's lead to two points. The match continued to be played on the defence as both sets of defenders kept thwarting all the raiders who came their way. Momentum is a big factor in the sport of Kabaddi and Gujarat moved to a three-point lead with under four minutes left in the match through a successful raid by Sachin and a tackle by Parvesh Bhainswal.

But Vishal pulled out a successful Super Tackle to once again make it a one-point match in the dying minutes. Nitin Rawal pulled out another Super Tackle to level the points at 24-24 with under 3 minutes left to play. Gujarat must have felt like they had secured a tie when they successfully tackled Deepak Hooda but Jaipur's Nitin Rawal produced yet another Super Tackle to give the Pink Panthers the lead. The Jaipur All-Rounder secured his High 5 in the process but he was tackled in the final play of the match by Gujarat to end the match on a tie.

(With IANS inputs)