With a dominant performance from Patna Pirates, U.P. Yoddha were handed a 41-20 defeat in their second match at the Pataliputra Indoor Stadium in Patna. Pardeep Narwal and Neeraj Kumar exhibited brilliant performances to keep the Pirates on top of their game throughout as the hosts dominated both halves to finish with their first victory in the home leg.

We took the mat against the hosts with an unchanged line-up, and the match started with Pardeep Narwal’s raid. Monu, in his next raid, got us our first point with a running hand-touch. Though Narwal got yet another successful raid, he was tamed by Rishank’s instructions and Ashu’s strong double ankle-hold.

It was all even-stevens until a successful Jang Kun Lee raid revived Pardeep Narwal. With successive fruitful raids and tackles, Patna took the lead, leaving only three Yoddha on the mat and 12 minutes to go in the first half. Patna inflicted an all-out soon after.

Yoddha were back on the mat in full strength, hoping to bounce back in the game. Monu earned us a much-needed touch point, getting Jang-Kun Lee out with his toe touch.

Though Yoddha tried their level best to pull off a comeback, Patna proved to be a better side in the first half, leading by 24-9 as the teams went for the break.

Sumit’s tackle was our first point in the second half. He held back Jang-Kun Lee with a powerful dash. In an attempt to change the momentum, Mohsen Magsoudloujafari was brought to the mat. In his very first raid, he fetched the team a crucial point, getting Jaideep out. Following this, a super-tackle earned us a couple of points. Surender Gill, too, pulled off a successful raid, to get rid of Hadi Tajik and Neeraj Kumar, two of Patna’s crucial defenders.

However, the Pirates remained extremely consistent throughout the evening. While Narwal got a super10, their defenders put up top-notch performances as well.

With a few last moment winners, Yoddha finished off with 20 points on the board, while Patna gathered 41 points at full time to win the match.

We travel to Ahmedabad next and after a day’s break, take on Bengaluru Bulls on Monday.