Surender, Nitin impress while Bengal Warriors and UP Yoddhas play an enthralling draw

As the score (37-37) suggested, there was hardly anything separating the two teams throughout the match.

PUNE, December 18, 2023: Bengal Warriors and UP Yoddhas played out a thrilling 37-37 draw in the Pro Kabaddi League Season 10 match at the Shree Shiv Chhatrapati Sports Complex on Monday. Interestingly, this was the second tie of the season and the Warriors were part of both matches.

As the score suggested, there was barely anything separating the two teams throughout the match. Surender Gill got the UP Yoddhas going with a SUPER RAID, while Bengal Warriors hit back through Maninder Singh and Nitin Kumar. Pardeep Narwal, the skipper of the Yoddhas, had to wait as long as 12 minutes to get his first point as the UP Yoddhas started creeping ahead.

The Yoddhas were reduced to four men on a few occasions, but the Warriors’ raiders failed to capitalize. Some sharp tackles from Nitesh on Maninder and bonus points from Vijay Malik saw the Yoddhas move into a four-point lead at 18-14 at the end of the first half. It was a fiercely contested opening half with neither side claiming an ALL OUT.

The game really came alive in the second half when Gurdeep hit an ankle grab to deny Maninder and claim a SUPER TACKLE. The Yoddhas led 21-17 at this point, but that lead was short-lived as Shrikant Jadhav got a much-needed ALL OUT for the Warriors. Against a defense of two, Shrikant shot across the mat before forcing Hitesh into the lobby and then tapping Harendra Kumar to give his side a slim lead at 24-23.

However, Surender gave the Warriors little time to celebrate as he hit back with a SUPER RAID that put his side ahead and brought his Super 10 to the fore. The raider then grew from strength to strength and the Yoddhas rode on its raiding power to reduce the Warriors. down to one man before Nitin was flat on the mat. With five minutes to go, the Yoddhas led 35-30.

As was the theme of the game, the Warriors fought their way back through some determined defense and key attacking points from Maninder. Nitin, the Warriors’ best player of the night, scalped two crucial points to make it 36-36, but both sides grabbed a point each in the final minute to share the spoils.