PKL: Gujarat Fortunegiants tame UP Yoddha

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, July 26 

Parvesh Bhainswal produced a terrific defensive performance as Gujarat Fortunegiants beat UP Yoddha 44-19 in a VIVO Pro Kabaddi League Season 7 match at Hyderabad's Gachibowli Stadium today.

With two wins from as many games, Gujarat Fortunegiants now are atop the table.

Bhainswal scored six tackle points, while young Sumit, who made his debut on today, also impressed for the Gujarat Fortunegiants.

Rohit Gulia completed a Super 10 and led the raiding charge for Fortunegiants. 

UP Yoddha's inexperienced backline had a forgettable night as they scored just five tackle points. Monu Goyat also struggled to pick points and earned just two tackle points and spent a lot of time off court. 

Sachin Tanwar picked up a couple of raid points to give Gujarat Fortunegiants a 3-1 lead after three minutes. Five minutes later, UP Yoddha drew level at 4-4 but after that it was all Gujarat Fortunegiants all the way.

Sachin, who reached the 300-point landmark in PKL, made a two-point raid to further Gujarat's advantage. In the 11th minute Gujarat Fortunegiants inflicted the first all out of the match with a lead of 12-5. 

Gujarat's defence did a fine job on Yoddha's star man Goyat and kept him on the bench for almost 13 minutes in the first half. Goyat's absence was felt badly by UP Yoddha as they struggled to pick up raid points. At the end of the first half, the score was 19-9 in favour of Gujarat Fortunegiants.

Gujarat Fortunegiants began the second half in a fine fashion as they inflicted another all out in the 21st minute to stretch the lead to 24-9. 

Bhainswal put more pressure on Yoddha as he sent Goyat back to the bench. The Haryana lad was in great form and showed immense strength as he made three successive tackles to give Gujarat Fortunegiants a 31-13 lead after 30 minutes. 

Sonu Janglan, who came on as a substitute, made a super raid in the last minute to complete Gujarat's dominance. 

Pirates beat Telugu Titans

In the other match, three-time champions Patna Pirates beat Telugu Titans 34-22 to register their first win of the season.

Jaideep was a rock for the Patna Pirates defence and kept the Baahubali brothers Siddharth Desai and Suraj Desai quiet throughout the match. 

The match was billed as a clash between the two-top raiders of the league and it was “record-breaker” Pardeep Narwal who emerged on top in that battle with seven points. Siddharth was sent to the bench six times by the Patna defence.