Tamil Thalaivas suffers fourth defeat in six matches

CHENNAI: Tamil Thalaivas suffered its fourth defeat of the Pro Kabaddi League Season 9 as it went down 24-41 to UP Yoddhas at the Kanteerava Indoor Stadium in Bengaluru on Sunday.

Yoddhas defenders Sumit (7 tackle points) and Ashu Singh (6 tackle points) kept the Thalaivas raiders at bay while ‘Record Breaker’ Pardeep Narwal and Surender Gill contributed six and four raid points respectively.

On the night, Pardeep became the first player in Pro Kabaddi history to rack up 1,400 raid points.

The UP team inflicted two ‘All Outs’ – in the eighth and 17th minute – to surge ahead in the match. But, it was TT that began the contest well, picking up the first three points.

However, Yoddhas not only levelled the score in quick time but also took a sizeable lead as the first half progressed.

Thalaivas did not do itself any favour as it gifted its rival three needless points in the first 20 minutes – two for self outs and one for technicality.

At the half-time breather, the Nitesh Kumar-led Yoddhas had a 12-point (23-11) cushion. The Tamil Nadu-based side could not muster a comeback in the second half since the UP team’s defenders put on a show. For TT, all-rounder Himanshu (7 points – 5 raid points and 2 tackle points) and left corner Sahil Gulia (6 tackle points) were the only bright sparks.

Following the result, the 11th-placed Thalaivas has 10 points from six matches while Yoddhas, which occupies the sixth spot, has 18 points from six games.

Earlier in the night, Bengaluru Bulls produced a comeback for the second consecutive match to share the spoils with Patna Pirates after a 31-31 tie.

Bengaluru was behind by six points (25-31) with 60 seconds remaining on the clock, but effected an ‘All Out’ in the last minute to split the match points (3 each). Bharat of Bulls finished as the top scorer with 11 raid points.

RESULTS: UP Yoddhas 41 bt Tamil Thalaivas 24; Bengaluru Bulls 31 tied with Patna Pirates 31.