TIL Desk Sports/ Puneri Paltan kept their dreams alive by defeating UP Yoddha 40-38 in the nail-biting first Eliminator of Pro Kabaddi League Season 5 at the NSCI Stadium here on Monday. Pune will now face the winner of the second Eliminator between Haryana Steelers and Patna Pirates in the third Eliminator on Tuesday.
Girish Ernak was rock solid at the back and scored seven tackle points whereas Deepak Niwas Hooda scored 10 raid points to lead their team to victory. UP Yoddha squandered a solid start 5-0 lead and despite Rishank Devadiga’s 15 point effort, their campaign came to an end.
The UP side were let down by their defence as they could score just eight tackle points whereas Pune’s defence scored 17 tackle points. UP made a strong start as Nitin Tomar and Rishank scored raid points to give their team a 5-0 lead after three minutes.
Akshay Jadhav opened Pune’s account in the same minute with a raid point before the defence forced a super tackle in the fourth minute to reduce the margin to 3-5. UP Yoddha inflicted the first all out of the match in the same minute to extend their lead to 10-3.
