Two one-sided contests were witnessed on January 9 as Puneri Paltan defeated the Bengal Warriors comprehensively and the Bengaluru Bulls suffered a shocking loss against UP Yoddha.
The Puneri Paltan came out all guns blazing in the first game of the night against the defending champions Bengal Warriors. The match finished with a 39-27 scoreline in favour of the Puneri Paltan, with young raider Aslam Inamdar scoring 17 points from 12 raids.
The Paltans were seen in charge right from the beginning of the game as they made one successful raid after another and thus left the Warriors gasping for breath. Abinesh Nadarajan also did well in defence as he accumulated a total of five points.
For the Bengal Warriors, Maninder Singh was seen in excellent form again as he scored 13 points from nine raids. Akash Pikalmunde supported him well with eight points from six raids as well. However, their defensive failure never allowed them to get back into the match.
UP Yoddha pull off an upset against Bengaluru Bulls
UP Yoddha absolutely stunned the Bengaluru Bulls as they left them completely stunned with a defensive masterclass. The Yoddha accumulated a total of 22 tackle points in the game and thus set a record for the most tackle points scored by a team in a single Pro Kabaddi League match.
Shrikant Jadhav was the star of the match for UP Yoddha as he scored a total of 15 points. Surender Gill and Mohammad Taghi also supported him well, scoring five points each.
For the Bengaluru Bulls, it was Bharat who scored the most number of points. He amassed 11 points in the match through nine raids, and two of them were bonus points, whereas Pawan Kumar also scored a High Five.
But the surprise of the match came when their star raider Pardeep Narwal was substituted after two unsuccessful raids. He didn’t play in the match again and hence didn’t score even a single point in the game. The Bulls eventually lost the match by 15 points, as the final scoreline read 42-27.
