U.P. Yoddhas, owned by the GMR Group, were condemned to a 42-44 defeat by Dabang Delhi K.C in match 15 of Pro Kabaddi Season 9 at the Shree Kanteerava Indoor Stadium in Bengaluru on Wednesday, October 12.

Surender Gill was the top raider for U.P. Yoddhas with 21 points (15 touch, six bonus), while among the defenders, Ashu Singh earned four tackle points.

For Dabang Delhi K.C., captain Naveen Kumar (13 raid points) and Manjeet (12 raid points) led from the front while Vishal (four tackle points) and Krishan (three tackle points) were the standout defenders.

Surender Gill provided a strong start for U.P. Yoddhas in the contest with a Super 10 from 12 raids, including a Do-or-Die raid. Within the first eight minutes, the Yoddhas secured an all-out on Dabang Delhi K.C. with the score reading 11-4.

Naveen Kumar was kept silent once again as U.P. Yoddhas registered another all-out with five minutes for the first half to end. Ashu Singh and Nitesh Kumar were resolute in keeping the Dabang Delhi K.C. star from taking any major points. At this point, the score was U.P. Yoddhas 21-11 Dabang Delhi K.C.

The ‘Naveen Express’ struck back with seven points (one touch and six bonus) before Manjeet Singh’s four-point Super Raid at the stroke of half-time brought Dabang Delhi K.C back into the game. The first half ended at 25-19 in favour of the Yoddhas.

Entering the second half, Surender Gill picked up a three-point Super Raid and a two-point raid before U.P. Yoddhas suffered their first all-out of the game. Yoddhas maintained their lead at 33-26.

The defending champions clawed their way back into the game with their defence restricting Gill and Pardeep from taking more points. Naveen made his comeback with a couple of raid points as his team inflicted an all-out on U.P. Yoddhas to take a one-point lead. The score read 37-36 in Delhi’s favour.

With less than three minutes left, U.P. Yoddhas turned things around with a tackle on  Durgesh and Surender Gill’s Do-or-Die raid to take the score to 42-40 in their favour.

Dabang Delhi K.C. didn’t let things die down yet as they retook the lead to 43-42, and a mistake from Pardeep Narwal in the dying seconds of his raid saw the defending champions seal a 44-42 victory.