U.P. Yoddhas, owned by the GMR Group, opened their Pro Kabaddi Season 9 campaign with a nail-biting 34-32 win over Jaipur Pink Panthers at the Shree Kanteerava Indoor Stadium in Bengaluru on Friday, October 7.

Surender Gill was the top raider for U.P. Yoddhas with eight points (seven touch, one bonus), while Pardeep Narwal accrued seven points (three touch, four bonus). Among the defenders, Ashu Singh earned four tackle points.

For the Jaipur Pink Panthers, Arjun Deshwal registered eight raid points (seven touch, one bonus) while Abhishek KS was the top defender with four tackle points.

U.P. Yoddhas found themselves on the backfoot early on in the contest, as they suffered an all-out at 7-12 despite starting with some promise.

A couple of raid points from Surender Gill and tackle points from Shubham Kumar and Nitesh Kumar helped the Yoddhas trim the deficit to three points. The first half ended with Jaipur Pink Panthers leading 15-12.

In a span of four minutes into the second half, U.P. Yoddhas charged back to effect an all-out on the Jaipur Pink Panthers. After Bhavani Rajput failed to take away raid points from a regular and Do-or-Die raid for the Panthers, Surender Gill claimed two Do-or-Die raid points before Yoddhas' defenders trapped Jaipur defender Devank to claim three points and take the score to 18-16.

Ajith Kumar claimed a three-point Super Raid but would go out with a Super Tackle from Ashu Singh. After a silent first half, Pardeep Narwal got his first touchpoints in the 31st minute.

Bhavani Rajput’s Super Raid got Jaipur Pink Panthers within two points of U.P. Yoddhas’ score of 25. However, Pardeep Narwal’s two points from a raid helped the Yoddhas extend their lead to 28-24.

Four minutes from time, U.P. Yoddhas suffered their second all-out. However, raid points from Surender Gill and Pardeep and a late tackle over Ajith Kumar propelled U.P. Yoddhas to walk away with a 34-32 win over Jaipur Pink Panthers.

U.P. Yoddhas will take on U Mumba in their next game on Monday, October 10.