U.P. Yoddha went down 17-48 to Bengal Warriors in their first encounter of PKL season 7. The Yoddha line-up saw a surprise as Rishank Devadiga did not make it to the Starting 7. He wasn’t a part of the bench too.

U.P. played with three raiders - Monu Goyat, Surender Singh and Shrikant Jadhav. Amit, Narender and Nitesh Kumar were the three defenders on the mat while Sachin Kumar was the lone all-rounder.

Starting off with a lead, the unit delivered well in the early parts of the match with multiple successful raids & tackles. In a fast-paced game like Kabaddi, the momentum can shift any second, the Yoddha camp lost it when Nitesh Kumar’s Super Tackle attempt on Maninder Singh failed. The Bengal Warriors raiding unit consisting of Mohammad Nabibakhsh & Maninder Singh started off the game well with consistent successful raids. Our raider Shrikant Jadhav was not having a great game as he failed to grab raid points. The gap in points kept on increasing against the Bengal Warriors, till we got the time to regroup & catch our breaths at half-time.

HALF-TIME: U.P. Yoddha 9 – 17 Bengal Warriors

The second half saw the game go even further downhill as our Yoddha failed to deliver on both ends of the mat. Monu Goyat did not receive enough support from Surender Singh or Shrikant Jadhav. Bengal Warriors players - Mohammad Nabibakhsh & Baldev Singh took the game even further away from the Yoddha with consistent performances on the mat. Skipper Nitesh Kumar could gather only two tackle points and took his overall tally to 149. Lack of support and lack of time on the mat meant that our skipper also couldn’t produce his best performance.

FULL TIME: U.P. Yoddha 17 - 48 Bengal Warriors

With just one-rest day, the entire unit will plan to come back stronger when they take on Gujarat Fortunegiants on July 26 at the same venue.