UP Yoddhas beat Telugu Titans on Saturday (August 30) to start their campaign in Pro Kabaddi League 2025 (PKL 2025) with a victory. Both the teams faced each other in the third game of the tournament at the Vishwanadh Sports Club in Vizag.
While the game was the first of the season for the Yoddhas, the Titans were playing their second. Earlier in the competition, the Titans had faced Tamil Thalaivas in the tournament-opener and had suffered a defeat. While they would have been desperate to win the second game, the Yoddhas inflicted another defeat on them.
Riding on captain Sumit’s eight points and Gagan Gowda’s superb 14-point haul, the Yoddhas beat the Titans with a scoreline of 40-35. For the Titans, Vijay Malik scored 14 points but his efforts were not enough for his team to win the match.
PKL 2025 – UP Yoddhas start campaign with win:
The game started in a fine fashion as both the teams traded early blows and forced Do-or-Die raids. Bharat faltered in his first two such attempts, while Guman Singh’s double touch gave the Yoddhas the lead 10 minutes into the first half.
The Yoddhas then inflicted an all out after Sumit trapped Jai Bhagwan to hand his team a four-point lead. The Yoddhas made the most of the momentum and went into the break leading 21-13. The Yoddhas started the second half in a dominant fashion as well as they inflicted another all out to extend their lead to 11 points.
Malik was waging a lone battle as he revived the Titans with a multi-point raid. However, Gowda’s consistency not only took him to a Super 10 but also ensured that the Yoddhas remained on the front foot. Towards the end of the game, the Titans showed signs of staging a remarkable comeback.
With the Yoddhas getting all out for the first time in the match, the lead was cut to just five points. Malik completed his Super 10 with a multi-point raid and even dismissed Gowda. However, Gowda eventually came out on top as he sealed a thrilling win for his side with a Super Raid in the dying moments.
Here are the highlights of the match: