New Delhi: UP Yoddhas’s 10-match unbeaten streak came to an end on Friday as they lost to Haryana Steelers in a nail-biting semifinal match played at the Balewadi Sports Complex in Pune. Haryana Steelers have now entered the second straight final of the PKL as coach Manpreet Singh will aim for their maiden title on Sunday.
UP Yoddhas’ dauntless raider Gagan Gowda touched Mohammadreza Shadloui in the first raid of the match. Vinay later got Shadloui back on the mat after getting a touch and a bonus in Haryana’s first raid.
UP Yoddhas caught Vinay and Shivam Patare in back-to-back attempts as UP Yoddhas took the lead before Shadloui showed shrewdness as he went behind Bhavani Rajput to get him hold, the first tackle for the Steelers in the game. Sumit made a similar catch against Vishal as the Yoddhas led the halfway mark of the first-half by 6-5.
Haryana takes lead at end of 1st half
Vinay removed Sumit Sangwan off the mat in the 11th minute before the Steelers held Gagan. Shivam Patare’s caught took much time for the TV umpire to decide before ruling out the Haryana Steelers’ raider out.
Bharat escapees Shadloui’s catch with a quick back-flip turn before laying his hand on his court. Shivam Patare made a frog jump to get rid of Sumit Sangwan’s ploy. Haryana took a slender lead of 12-11 at the end of the first half.
Within a couple of minutes getting into the second half, Haryana Steelers inflicted the all-out on UP Yoddhas to extend the lead to 16-13. Steelers maintained the lead with Vinay and Shivam Patare toying through the Yoddhas’ court. The Yoddhas made efforts to fightback to bridge the gap with Gagan getting the hands on Steelers’ defender, particularly getting the better of Shadloui. Steelers lead 21-18 (halfway of 2nd half).
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The final drama
Bhavani takes the touch of Shadloui with a scorpion kick but Shivam Patare continued to get the better of Sumit. Bhavani mauled and Steelers’ lead the attack. The intensity went down to the dying minutes as Gagan plundered points to cut the gap to two points but Bharat’s error conceded a silly point to Vinay.
With 30 seconds to tick off the clock, Haryana Steelers were just leading at 26-25 with the in-form Gagan charging for the raid with only three players to defend him. A super tackle from Rahul Sethpal was all it took for the Steelers to avoid the threat of squandering the match as they extended the lead to 28-25 and sealed their successive final in a row.
The UP Yoddhas’ 10-match unbeaten streak in Pro Kabaddi League (PKL) ended in a hard-fought semifinal loss against the Haryana Steelers. Despite a strong performance from raider Gagan Gowda, the Yoddhas were unable to overcome the Steelers’ consistent offense, particularly from Vinay and Shivam Patare riding on their red-hot forms. A crucial all-out in the second half propelled Haryana to a 28-25 victory, securing their place in the PKL final for the second consecutive year. Kabaddi Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today
