Chennai, Oct 9 (IANS) Gujarat Giants recorded back-to-back wins, while also completing the double against UP Yoddhas after a narrow 41-39 win at the SDAT Multi Purpose Indoor Stadium on Thursday night.

Rakesh Sungroya led the charge with his career-best performance, amassing 20 raid points, along with Lucky Sharma’s four tackles. Meanwhile, Guman Singh’s Super 10 went down in vain for the Yoddhas.

This result also means that table toppers Dabang Delhi K.C. confirmed their place in the top eight, despite their loss to Bengal Warriorz earlier in the night.

With all to play for in this contest, it was a fast start by both sides, with both captains opening their team’s accounts. Rakesh Sungroya did most of the early damage for Gujarat Giants, while Sumit Sangwan set the tone for his side with a couple of tackles. Guman Singh marked his appearance with a milestone of 600 raid points in the league as the two teams exchanged blows at the start.

Harish Kamatchi was making his presence felt for the Gujarat Giants, providing support to Rakesh. For UP Yoddhas, Guman Singh was keeping the scoreboard ticking as the two sides refused to give an inch. At the end of a hard-fought first quarter, his side had a one-point lead courtesy of a tackle by Mahender Singh.

Rakesh was on a roll for the Giants, completing his Super 10 with a multi-point raid on a Do-Or-Die. He scored 10 out of 15 points for Gujarat Giants and eventually executed the first ALL OUT of the game to give his side a 20-16 lead. In a closely contested first half, his side had a three-point lead with the score at 22-19.

Lucky Sharma registered the first tackle of the second half, but Hitesh responded quickly for the Yoddhas. Rakesh carried on his fine run with another two-point raid, further extending Giants’ lead. They made that dominance count with their captain inflicting a second ALL OUT on their opponents, taking a ten-point lead in this contest.

Mohammadreza Shadloui bagged a couple of tackles to keep his side’s lead intact as the tempo slowed down. However, Guman Singh and Bhavani Rajput began the comeback trail for the Yoddhas, with the former completing his Super 10. A tackle by Hitesh then helped them complete an ALL OUT, reducing the deficit to three points.

He followed it up with another tackle, before a successful Do-Or-Die Raid from Bhavani Rajput helped them level the score at 36-36. Himanshu Singh got a crucial raid, while Lucky Sharma bagged his fourth tackle of the night to give Gujarat Giants a two-point lead.

However, UP Yoddhas responded with a tackle by Mahender Singh and a raid from Guman Singh, once again levelling the score at 38-38 with a minute to go. With a chance to take the lead in the penultimate raid of the game, Mohammadreza Shadloui came in clutch to give the Giants a 40-39 lead. In the end, Ankit Dahiya sealed the deal with a tackle on Guman, giving Gujarat Giants a 41-39 win to keep their playoff hopes alive.

–IANS

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