U.P. Yoddhas - owned by the GMR Group - claimed a 41-30 victory against Telugu Titans in match 74 of Pro Kabaddi League Season 9 at the Shree Shivchhatrapati Sports Complex, Balewadi in Pune on Saturday, November 13.
While Siddharth Desai got the proceedings underway with a successful raid, there were quite evenly-poised raids by the former and the Yoddhas' Surender Gill and Pardeep Narwal. 10 minutes into the game, Gill's Super Raid caught out Vishal Bhardwaj, Parvesh Bhainswal, Mohsen Maghsoudlou and Ankit, leaving only two Titans on the mat. The first All-Out of the game duly followed as the U.P. Yoddhas administered an 18-11 lead.
The Yoddhas went into the break leading 21-15, with Surender Gill very well continuing his spectacular form with nine points in the first half itself.
Early in the second half, the Titans mounted a comeback in a consolidated fashion in a way they hadn't done before this season.
With a comeback in motion, Telugu Titans trimmed the lead down to one and a solitary U.P. Yoddhas player on the mat. Just as an All-Out loomed, the Yoddhas' young raider Mahipal effected a Super Raid that not only get the lead back for his side but also helped deny the Titans the lead.
There onwards, U.P. Yoddhas grabbed control of the game and cut down the Titans' new-found confidence. The Yoddhas inflicted a second All-Out with seven minutes left on the clock and capped a 12-point lead at 36-24.
U.P Yoddhas would go on to extend their lead in the last moments, and in turn, condemned Telugu Titans to yet another defeat in their underwhelming PKL 9 season.