Chennai, September 29: UP Yoddhas saw their Pro Kabaddi League (PKL) 12 fixture against the Gujarat Giants round off 27-33 in the latter’s favour at the SDAT Multi-Purpose Indoor Stadium, Chennai tonight.

In a tightly-contested second half, the Giants edged ahead by a whisker. However, the Yoddhas did end up presenting a formidable front of the balance in their setup, with multiple important players chipping in with critical points.

Gagan Gowda was the star of the show, starting the encounter and registering eight points, though he was equally supported by Bhavani Rajput, who accumulated six of them.

Captain Sumit Sangwan was the pick of the defenders with four points to his name. For the opponents, the troika of Ankit Dahiya, Rakesh, and Mohammadreza Shadloui amassed a total of 20 points.

Both teams matched each other toe-to-toe in terms of raids, making 44 of them. The Giants secured 13 successful ones, while the Yoddhas recorded 12 victorious ones, resulting in an equal raid strike rate for both sides, i.e., 36.36%.

Yoddhas’ raid success rate stood at 27.27%, but the Giants outperformed them in terms of tackles, garnering 13 successful tackles versus the eight of UP.

That made a difference in the closing essay of the encounter, as the Yoddhas had more raid points (5) in the final 20 minutes as compared to the Giants (4), but it was the backline that pushed Gujarat ahead in a gripping encounter altogether.

UP Yoddhas, renowned for their resilience and robustness at the back, will be keen to regroup and improve on those fronts to deliver a fitting response in the forthcoming fixtures.

UP Yoddhas will play their next match against Dabang Delhi on October 3, whereas the Gujarat Giants are poised to face U Mumba on October 2.

UP Yoddhas 27 – 33 Gujarat Giants