Yuva Kabaddi Series: Palani Tuskers win their maiden title in summer edition

Palani Tuskers triumphed over Periyar Panthers to win their maiden title in the first-ever extra-time in a final of Yuva Kaabddi Series Summer Edition at the Chamundi Vihar Indoor Stadium, Mysore, Karnataka on Wednesday.

As the Champions of this season, Palani Tuskers received a prize money of INR 20 lakhs, and the Runner Up, Periyar Panthers received a prize money of INR 10 lakhs. Nilgiri Knights, who secured third position in the tournament received prize money of INR 5 lakhs.

The Best Raider and Best Defender of the Tournament were bagged by Durgesh Kumar of Chambal Challengers (274 raid points) and Lokesh Ghosliya of Periyar Panthers (103 tackle points) respectively.

The edition’s Most Effective Raider was Gagan Gowda of Hampi Heroes with 73.21 points, and the Most Effective Defender was Lokesh Ghosliya with 12.04 points. In addition to these, the edition’s Super Raid Specialist was Rohit Yadav of Panthers with a strike rate of 0.667, Multi Point Raid Specialist was Ns. Jayasoorya Nagarajan of Tuskers, the Do-or-Die Raid Specialist was Sundaravishva Kannan of Knights, and Super Tackle Specialist was Lokesh Ghosliya.

The final was graced by His Majesty Yaduveer Krishnadatta Chamaraja Wadiyar, the 27th and current custodian of the Royal House of Mysore.

Talking about the impact and success of the tournament, CEO of Yuva Kabaddi Series, Vikas Gautam said, “We are immensely proud of the fifth successful edition of the Yuva Kabaddi Series, where we witnessed the remarkable talent and dedication of young players on the mat. It brings me great joy to see players from Chhattisgarh and North East India getting this incredible opportunity to shine on a professional platform like YKS."

Our vision has always been to provide a robust platform to the youth, enabling them to showcase their talent amidst the most talented Kabaddi players from all corners of our nation and eventually from around the globe. As a unified family, we remain committed to promoting Kabaddi to unparalleled heights in the forthcoming editions, fostering an even stronger Kabaddi ecosystem within our country," he added further.

India's first year-long tournament returned to action after four successful editions. The Yuva Kabaddi Series Summer Edition 2023 showcased non-stop Kabaddi days for fans in Mysore.

The highly-competitive tournament witnessed 9 teams, having 200 players participating from different states of India - Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Pondicherry, Rajasthan Chattisgarh, Jharkhand, Assam, Manipur, and Tripura, who played against each other to get their hands on the glorious YKS trophy.

Teams that battled it out included Aravalli Arrows, Chambal Challengers, Chola Veerans, Hampi Heroes, Kaziranga Rhinos, Nilgiri Knights, Palani Tuskers, Periyar Panthers, and Sindh Sonics. The high-intensity kabaddi encounters, which saw 120 matches spread across five rounds, witnessed YUVA Kabaddi stars exhibiting their top-notch kabaddi skills on both raiding and tackling fronts.

The tournament commenced with Survival 1 round, where all 9 teams played against each other in a single round-robin format, and the teams that finished among top-3 received bonus points going ahead to the next round.

No teams were eliminated after this round. Palani Tuskers dominated the inaugural round, while Kaziranga Rhinos failed to win any match and stayed at the bottom.

Following this was the Survival 2 round, which was also dominated by Palani Tuskers, who were yet to see the face of defeat. At the closure of this round, Kaziranga Rhinos’ campaign ended, as they were at the bottom of the points table.

The mid-stage of the edition, the Booster Round was played among 8 teams, where Nilgiri Knights unleashed their lethal kabaddi skills and stayed undefeatable through the course of 7 matches and dominated the points table. Sindh Sonics, who failed to win a single game in this round were eliminated from the tournament.

Following this was the Challenger Round, which saw the redemption of the Palani Tuskers, who won six consecutive encounters and became the first team to qualify for the Summit Round.

The two-time Champions, Hampi Heroes, failed to confirm their qualification and exited the tournament. In the penultimate Summit Round, the top-6 teams battled for one last time to prove their supremacy. A total of 3 Qualifiers and 4 Eliminators were played before the final match between Palani Tuskers and Periyar Panthers, where Tuskers defeated Panthers to clinch their maiden title by a margin of 2 points in the extra-time.