U.P. Yoddhas - owned by the GMR Group - ended their season with a 4-6 defeat to Tamil Thalaivas in the tie-breaker of the Pro Kabaddi League Season 9 Eliminator 2 match at the Dome, NSCI SVP Stadium, Mumbai on Tuesday, December 13. At the end of regular time, the scores were tied at 36-36.
A close first half kicked off with the Thalaivas becoming the first team that won the toss and chose to raid this season. Having dashed to a 4-0 lead, it seemed the decision to raid first was a masterstroke choice, thanks to Narender's successful raids early on. The raider continued to be a menace through the half, constantly registering touch points to frustrate the Yoddhas depleted.
U.P. Yoddhas' Pardeep Narwal and Surender Gill had a night to forget, registering a mere five points between them through the half.
A Super Tackle by Ashu Singh on Ajinkya Pawar ensured the Yoddhas didn't suffer an All-Out. Right at the end of the half, though, Narender's raid points off Sandeep Narwal and Gurdeep left the Yoddhas on the brink of an All-Out. Tamil Thalaivas went into the break leading 16-14.
The Thalaivas kicked off the second half inflicting the first All-Out on the U.P. Yoddhas to surge into a 19-15 lead. The Yoddhas fought back, with Gill particularly snatching points at regular intervals. Tamil Thalaivas kept their cool though, chipping away with just enough points to constantly keep the Yoddhas at arm's length.
With five minutes to go, both teams were separated by a mere three points. Pardeep Narwal's points off M Himanshu and Abishek left the Thalaivas on the brink of an All-Out.
Within the final two minutes, the U.P. Yoddhas got their first All-Out of the game to draw level at 33 apiece. With barely thirty seconds to go, record-breaker Pardeep came up with a Super Raid to give the Yoddhas a two-point lead.
And yet, the Thaialvas fought back, Pawar earning them one point before a tackle point on Narwal with 15 seconds left, drawing them level and taking the game to a tiebreaker.
The Thalaivas edged a tense back-and-forth tiebreaker 6-4 to take the game and set up a semi-final clash against Puneri Paltan on Thursday.