Gagan Gowda shone for UP Yoddhas as he led his side to a crucial 36-33 win against Puneri Paltan in a Pro Kabaddi League match here on Saturday. Gowda scored 15 points for the Yoddhas, while Pankaj Mohite got 11 points for Puneri Paltan. The in-form Gowda got the UP Yoddhas off to a quick start, and his defenders backed him well, as they picked up an early lead.
However, Puneri Paltan, cheered on by the home crowd, had the skipper Akash Shinde leading by the front, in the initial exchanges. But, just after the five-minute mark, Gowda landed a Super Raid, picking up three important points.
It was an action packed first 10 minutes, as both Puneri Paltan and UP Yoddhas were looking to score quickly. Midway through the first half, however, the advantage was with UP Yoddhas, who led by 4 points.
A few minutes later, UP Yoddhas inflicted an ALL OUT on Puneri Paltan, and significantly increased their advantage over the home team. As the half wore on, all the players in the starting line-up had scored points for UP Yoddhas, with Gowda, Bhavani Rajput, Hitesh and Sumit leading the way.
That though wasn’t the case with Puneri Paltan, who were finding it tough to go through the gears. At half time break, UP Yoddhas led 21-11. The second half started off in similar fashion.
UP Yoddhas were out of the blocks quicker and the tall raiders were taking big strides away from Puneri Paltan. The defending champions though stuck to their plans and foiled a couple of crucial attacks, including a Mohit Goyat Super Tackle on Gowda, which brought the deficit down to five points.
Suddenly, Puneri Paltan were looking like a very different team with Pankaj Mohite, Mohit Goyat and Aryavardhan Navale leading the charge. They wrestled away the momentum from UP Yoddhas. At the half-hour mark, it was anybody’s game, with the difference between both sides being 5 points.
With less than 10 minutes in the game, Gowda completed his Super 10. For Puneri Paltan, there was still quite a bit to do, and even though Pankaj Mohite was doing his best, Gowda was proving to be the difference. Eventually, Puneri Paltan drove UP Yoddhas close, but the defending champions fell just short.
