UP Yoddhas registered a close 35-32 win against U Mumba at the Thyagaraj Indoor Stadium in Delhi on Thursday. While the win wasn’t enough for the Yoddhas to secure a place in the top eight, U Mumba missed out on the opportunity to secure a top-four finish.
In a game where the defences were on top, Sumit Sangwan led the way for the Yoddhas with a High Five. Hitesh contributed with four tackle points, while Surender Gill was also effective on both ends of the mat.
For U Mumba, Ajit Chouhan recorded a Super 10, and Rinku secured a High Five. However, that wasn’t enough for their team to get the win. It was a cautious start by both teams before U Mumba imposed themselves to take an early lead.
A tackle from Vijay Kumar opened their account, and Ajit followed it up with a couple of raid points. Sunil Kumar also made his presence felt at the start, giving his side a four-point lead despite Guman Singh getting on the board for the UP Yoddhas.
However, the Yoddhas got back on level terms courtesy Surender Gill’s Super Raid, levelling the score at 5-5. They soon got their noses in front as Ashu Singh registered his first tackle, but the lead lasted momentarily as Rinku bagged a couple of Super Tackles to help U Mumba move back in front, regaining their four-point lead with the score at 11-7 after the first ten minutes.
The tempo of the game slowed down slightly with both teams resorting to the Do-Or-Die Raid strategy. Shivam Chaudhary was successful during his raid, and his teammate Hitesh ensured that Ajit couldn’t do the same.
Shivam Chaudhary then got his first points, closing the gap to two points. The tackles began to fly in with Hitesh and Sunil Kumar exchanging blows. Sumit Sangwan also bagged his first tackle, bringing his side back on level terms.
Guman Singh kept his team on level terms, with Amirmohammad Zafardanesh doing the same, as the two teams were tied 17-17 at halftime. In a sedate start to the second half, the two teams were content to play at a slow tempo.
Zafardanesh and Hitesh registered tackles to keep things level before Surender Gill secured a successful Do-Or-Die Raid and then registered his first tackle to give his side a two-point lead. Shivam Chaudhary also contributed with his Do-Or-Die Raid, before a tackle from Sumit helped the Yoddhas inflict all out.
They got themselves a seven-point advantage with the score at 27-20. With ten minutes to go in the game, U Mumba closed the gap to four points, courtesy a tackle from Parvesh Bhainswal and a two-point raid from Ajit Chouhan two-point raid.
Sumit helped his team open a six-point gap once more, scoring a couple of crucial tackles to keep his team’s lead intact at 31-25 with five minutes to go in the game. The UP Yoddhas captain completed his High Five, extending his team’s lead to seven points.
However, U Mumba responded strongly with Ajit Chouhan completing his super 10 and Rinku also completing his High Five. It came down to a three-point game with a minute to go, but the Yoddhas held their nerve with Bhavani Rajput chipping in with a crucial point to help them seal a 35-32 win.