Pro Kabaddi League

Billed as a clash between UP Yoddhas' record-breaking raider Pardeep Narwal and Delhi's young phenomenon Naveen Kumar, the action did not disappoint. It was the Yoddhas' defence, who, in the early stages, looked impenetrable and had Delhi on the ropes. They initiated the first ALL OUT of the game with just seven minutes gone to take a commanding 11-4 lead.

The Bengaluru defense unit led by Aman showcased top form and reduced the Warriors to just two players on the mat in the 12th minute. Thereafter, the Bulls inflicted an ALL-OUT in the 17th minute and took a massive lead at 14-9. But, the Warriors came roaring back through stupendous raids by Maninder Singh and regained the lead at 15-14 at the end of the first half.

Manjeet began the match with a successful raid, opening the scoring for Haryana Steelers straightaway. But a minute later, he was caught by right corner Sagar as Tamil Thalaivas took the lead. A defensive error from Monu Hooda led to Tamil Thalaivas extending their lead, putting the Steelers on the backfoot.

Delhi and Gujarat were both cautious to start with, and neither team was able to attain a big lead. While Rakesh H.S was running the show for the Giants, captain Naveen Kumar was looking to drive his side on. The defenders were making quite a match of this as the raiders found it tough to pick up the points. The second part of the first half though saw Naveen rake up a few quick points for Delhi, who got their noses ahead. Soon after, the Delhi defence inflicted an ALL-OUT on the Giants.

Bhagwan picked up six points, while Guman scored five in the match. Bhagwan and Guman chipped in with raids as U Mumba took a three-point lead at 5-2 in the 7th minute. The U Mumba defense led by Surinder Singh backed their raiders and helped the Mumbai team to keep forging ahead.

The Warriors, who never looked out of control, picked up their first points this season. The experienced Telugu Titans were off the blocks quickly against the Bengal Warriors led by Maninder Singh, who however fought back and wiped out the three-point early lead, and surged ahead. Maninder inflicted an ALL OUT while Vaibhav Garje and Shrikant Jadhav helped consolidate, giving the Bengal Warriors an 8-point lead after the first ten minutes, with the score reading 13-5.

They came out all guns blazing in the second half and levelled the scores at 35-35. However, Kandola and Bharat ensured that the Bulls walked off the mat as winners with the scoreline reading 41-39 in the end. Raiders Aslam Inamdar and Mohit Goyat helped Puneri Paltan get off to a fabulous start as they raced away to a three-point lead at 5-2.

The Tamil Thalaivas had debutant Narender register a SUPER 10 while Rakesh scored 13 points for the Gujarat Giants. The Tamil Thalaivas and Gujarat Giants were off the blocks quickly with Rakesh and Narender picking up the first points for their sides. Both teams then held strong in the defensive unit and did not take too many chances in their raids.

However, the Pirates inflicted an ALL-OUT in the 11th minute to take a three-point lead at 12-9. But, moments later, Puneri Paltan reduced Patna to two members on the mat and regained the lead at 15-13. Soon after, Puneri Paltan's Alankar Patil tackled Rohit Gulia to carry out an ALL-OUT. The team from Pune rode on the momentum and led comfortably at 23-16 at the end of the first half.

For the Bulls, Neeraj Narwal finished with seven points, while the duo of Vikash Kandola and Bharat chipped in with five points each, helping begin their campaign with a thumping win. It was the Titans who got proceedings going as Vinay got the first raid in very quickly. Siddharth Desai pitched in too, before the defence Bharat and Bengaluru Bulls had their raid foiled.