Gujarat Giants, on Monday (September 29), beat UP Yoddhas 33-27 at the SDAT Multi-Purpose Indoor Stadium in Chennai to return to winning ways in the ongoing Pro Kabaddi League 2025 (PKL 2025).
The much-needed victory ended the five-match losing streak for the Gujarat-based outfit. It was only their second win in nine games this season. Gujarat Giants are still at the bottom of the points table with two wins from nine games.
The Yoddhas, on the other hand, missed out on the chance to win three games in a row. Even though they had won their previous two games before taking on Gujarat Giants, the momentum did not make much of a difference. The Yoddhas are currently at the seventh spot in the points table with four wins and five defeats.
PKL 2025 – Gujarat Giants register much-needed win
Mohammadreza Shadloui and Ankit Dahiya starred for Gujarat Giants in the crucial win. For the Yoddhas, Bhavani Rajput made his presence felt but his efforts were not enough to take his team to a win.
The Yoddhas drew the first blood but the Giants were quick to hit back as well to make it 1-1. The Yoddhas regained momentum with a two-point lead and had a 4-1 lead before Harish reduced the gap to 4-2 with a successful raid.
The Giants soon gained the momentum and made the most of it. Thanks to a powerful raid from Shadloui, they inflicted an all out on the Yoddhas just before the first time out and opened up a five-point lead. The Giants managed to dominate the proceedings even after the restart. While the Giants were looking destined to end the first half with a sizeable lead, Bhavani had other ideas.
He came up with a superb Super Raid to reduce the deficit to 15-16. However, the Giants responded in style by scoring a couple of points in quick succession before a tackle from Ankit Dahiya gave them a 19-15 lead. At halftime, the Giants held a 21-16 lead.
The Yoddhas scored a couple of points early in the second half but their attempts to reduce the deficit was foiled by another brilliant tackle from Dahiya. The Giants still held a four-point lead when the second time out was called.
With a handful of minutes left in the match, the Yoddhas reduced the gap to 26-29 following another successful raid from Rajput. However, Dahiya came back to haunt the Yoddhas once again as he delivered another tackle to extend Giants’ lead. Shadloui then scored on both sides of the mat to help his side clinch an important win.