The last time these two sides met, UP Yoddha got the better of the defending champions at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium in a 32-29 victory.
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UP Yoddha, the GMR Group-owned franchise of the Pro Kabaddi League representing the state of Uttar Pradesh, will take on defending champions Bengal Warriors in their opening game on Wednesday. The eighth season of the Pro Kabaddi League is back after a gap of two years due to the Coronavirus Pandemic. Besides, keeping in mind the health and safety of the players, officials and fans, it is being held behind closed doors this year. The last time these two sides met, UP Yoddha got the better of the defending champions at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium in a 32-29 victory. Shrikant Jadav was the top raider with 19 points and Nitesh Kumar came out on top as the best defender with 7 tackle points.
The two sides have met 8 times till now out of which UP Yoddha was able to get the better of Bengal Warriors 2 times, drawing thrice and losing thrice. UP Yoddha has a solid attacking raiding line-up led by Pardeep Narwal who has 1100 raid points to his name and Shrikant Jadav who was the best raider for UP Yoddha last season with 148 raid points. They will be up against one of the best defensive duos in the form of Abozar Mighani & Rinku Narwal. The Iranian international is just 40 tackle points shy of becoming the second overseas player in the league to cross 200 tackle points.
The Raiders of the defending champions will be up against the duo of Nitesh Kumar, who finished with 75 tackle points last season and Sumit, who won the ‘Best Debutant’ award as the second best defender last season with 77 tackle points and seven High-5s.
Head coach Jasveer Singh is confident ahead of the clash, as the players are excited to get the action underway. He added, “I am happy with our preparation. We as a team have spent a very good time together trying amidst the best possible facility at the UP Yoddha BK Kabaddi Academy in Meerut and the boys are excited and all set to take the mat for their first match.”
Jis din ka hume tha intezaar, woh kal aaraha hai. ?#vivoProKabaddi ke liye sirf 1️⃣ din baaki. ?#YoddhaHum #SaansRokSeenaThok #GMR #vivoProKabaddiIsBack #1DayToGo pic.twitter.com/84DfVdlBlq
— U.P. YODDHA (@UpYoddha) December 21, 2021
Nitesh Kumar, who will be leading UP Yoddha for the second consecutive season, is keen to give their best in the opening match. He explained, “We are excited to go out there and give our best. Even though we won’t have our fans cheering for us in the stadium, we know we are going to get all the fan support from the comfort of their homes. We have been receiving a lot of wishes from our fans and it has given us a lot of motivation as we head to our first match of the season.”
The match will be the third game of the day and will be played at the Sheraton Grand Bengaluru Whitefield Hotel & Convention Centre. The match will be broadcast LIVE on StarSports Network & Hotstar, 9:30 PM (IST) onwards.
Bengaluru Bulls vs U Mumba – 7:30 pm
Telugu Titans vs Tamil Thalaivas – 8:30 pm
Bengal Warriors vs UP Yoddha – 9:30 pm
