Having posted a thumping 42-31 win over Puneri Paltan in Eliminator 1, UP Yoddha will now face table-toppers Patna Pirates in Pro Kabaddi Season 8’s first semi-final on Wednesday at Sheraton Grand, Whitefield.
Patna Pirates earned a direct entry into the semi-final after topping the table with 86 points from 22 games, with 16 wins and five losses.
UP Yoddha stood third with 68 points in 22 matches, registering 12 wins and three draws.
If Pardeep Narwal can take his team across the winning line against his former home of seven seasons, UP Yoddha will land in a Pro Kabaddi League final for the first time.
The Record Breaker has an average of over 18 raid points in playoffs, the results of which Patna Pirates previously reaped. In his first playoff match as a Yoddha, he picked 18 raid points to help the team register a commanding victory.
Pardeep Narwal’s recent PKL playoffs appearance
Pardeep Narwal had not played in the playoffs in PKL 7 and PKL 6 as his former team failed to make the cut. However, his record in the playoffs of PKL 5, where he saw Patna Pirates to victory for a third time, tells us why he is one of the best in the game.
|
Match |
Raid Points |
Opponent |
|
Eliminator 3 |
19 |
Puneri Paltan |
|
Qualifier 2 |
23 |
Bengal Warriors |
|
Final |
19 |
Gujarat Fortunegiants |
Players to watch out for - UP Yoddha
Pardeep Narwal has sprung into form at the right time, bagging 76 raid points in the last six matches played. He has nine super 10s in PKL 8 and has 184 raid points in his kitty.
Pardeep also has the most super raids in the tournament, registering these at 11 instances.
Surender Gill, who took on lead raider responsibilities for a major duration in the league stage, has 188 raid points in PKL 8 with eight super 10s. He also has an impressive 7 super raids this season.
Corner defenders Sumit and Nitesh have been putting up a great show, sharing 109 tackle points between them. In Eliminator 1, Sumit picked up his fourth high 5 of PKL 8 while Nitesh scored three tackle points.
Players to watch out for - Patna Pirates
Sachin Tanwar has been Patna Pirates’ top-scoring raider for Pro Kabaddi Season 8. He has 157 raid points in 21 matches with five super 10s. Prashanth Kumar Rai has provided him support with 91 raid points in 21 matches.
Guman Singh and Monu Goyat have also contributed to the games that they’ve played in, bagging 78 raid points (in 17 games) and 77 raid points (in 14 games) respectively.
Their defence has been extremely strong with Mohammadreza Shadloui Chianeh picking 81 tackle points in 22 matches and Neeraj Kumar scoring 51 tackle points in 21 games.
UP Yoddha vs Patna Pirates head-to-head
The semi-finalists have faced each other 10 times in Pro Kabaddi League history, with the Pirates having five wins, edging out the Yoddha by a game. One match has resulted in a draw between the teams.
In PKL 8 alone, the teams have met twice, with each team pocketing one win. UP Yoddha first registered a 36-35 win driven by a Pardeep Narwal super 10 worth 12 points.
In their second encounter of the season, Patna Pirates just managed to get the better of UP Yoddha 37-35 riding on 12 points from Sachin Tanwar despite a Surender Gill super 10.
Recent form
UP Yoddha: W, W, W, L, W
Patna Pirates: W, L, W, W, W
