PKL: UP Yoddhas overhaul Telugu Titans, Bengal Warriorz stun Haryana Steelers

It was a game of two halves in Match 91 of PKL Season 11 in the Badminton Hall at the Balewadi Sports Complex in Pune as Telugu Titans and UP Yoddhas played out a nail-biter.

UP Yoddhas, who trailed at half-time, roared back in the second half, winning the game by a scoreline of 36-33. For UP Yoddhas, it was Gagan Gowda who bagged 15 points while Bhavani Rajput added 6 more to the cause.

Early Titans domination

Vijay Malik and Ashish Narwal opened the scoring for Telugu Titans, which gave them an early lead, despite a slow start to the contest.

In the early exchanges, Telugu Titans looked solid in defence, while the raiders were chipping in with quick and timely raids.

The early domination paid off as Telugu Titans landed an All-Out on 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 UP Yoddhas, however, Vijay Malik, Ashish Narwal and Sagar had other plans.

As the first half wore on, UP Yoddhas found it hard to put one past Telugu Titans, who were building on their advantage.

At the break, Telugu Titans led 17-10.

The Yoddhas comeback

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, UP Yoddhas picked up an All-Out on Telugu Titans and stormed into the lead.

The momentum was with UP Yoddhas and the attacking approach made it clear that they were keen to build on the lead.

At the half-hour mark, UP Yoddhas had their noses out in front with a 3-point lead.

At this point, Telugu Titans had scored 2 points in the first 10 minutes of the half, while 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.

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 was also the highest points scored on a single raid this season.

In the final couple of minutes, Telugu Titans landed an All-Out on UP Yoddhas to take a slender lead in what was turning out to be a very exciting game.

UP Yoddhas though found a way back yet again with Vijay Malik going out of bounds on the mat.

Eventually, UP Yoddhas picked up a couple of more points in the final seconds of the game to register a close win.

Warriorz beat Steelers

In the other fixture of the night, Bengal Warriorz fought back to hand in-form Haryana Steelers a 7-point defeat.

Bengal Warriorz fought back to hand in-form Haryana Steelers a 7-point defeat. Bengal Warriorz won the game with a scoreline of 39-32 with Mighty Maninder scoring 11 points, Pranay Rane adding 6 of his own and Mayur Kadam registering a High 5. For Haryana Steelers, Vinay registered a Super 10 which went in vain.

Both Haryana Steelers and Bengal Warriorz made a cautious start to the game as they exchanged blows early on. However, the Steelers had Shivam Patare on the charge and they made it count and picked up a 4-point lead within the first six minutes of the game.

Bengal Warriorz were looking to mount a comeback but Vinay’s Super Raid around the 10th minute put Haryana Steelers in a commanding position. While the Steelers continued to build on their lead, Bengal Warriorz found a way back and momentarily took the lead as well with Pranay Rane leading the way.

While Vinay went out and attacked on all cylinders for Haryana Steelers, it was Pranay Rane for Bengal Warriorz with a little help from Maninder Singh, who picked up the pace in the final minutes of the first half. And on the stroke of half-time, Bengal Warriorz landed an All-Out on Haryana Steelers and the teams went into the break with the scores locked at 17-17.

Maninder picked up the first points of the second half and then Shivam Patare added to Haryana Steelers’ tally. The two teams continued to spar in the early exchanges of the second half before a Super Raid by Shivam Patare gave the Steelers some breathing space. But Maninder Singh was going through the gears and scoring important raid points to keep Bengal Warriorz within touching distance of their opponents.

With 13 minutes to go, Vinay completed his Super 10, but at the other end, Bengal Warriorz were fighting hard. The duo of Manjeet and Mayur Kadam along with Maninder were leading the charge for Bengal Warriorz. At the half-hour mark, it was all square with teams locked at 25-25.

From then on in, Bengal Warriorz got their noses out in front yet again. Mayur Kadam had got his High 5, whilst Mighty Maninder was causing all sorts of problems at the other end of the mat. In the 26th minute, Maninder completed his Super 10 and Bengal Warriorz also inflicted an All-Out on Haryana Steelers. That gave the Warriorz an 8-point lead.

The final few minutes were as intense as ever. Bengal Warriorz were looking to hammer their advantage while Haryana Steelers were throwing the kitchen sink at their opponents. The powerful Mohammadreza Shadloui had been nullified by the Warriorz, who were marching on towards an emphatic win. Eventually, Bengal Warriorz came away with a 7-point win against the table-toppers.