Vadodara, Feb 26 (IANS) Top teams like Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra secured their places in the semifinals on the third day of the 72nd Senior Men’s National Kabaddi Championship 2026, producing commanding victories for some teams while others bowed out of the competition in the knockout rounds.

In all, 16 teams were in action across eight knockout matches, battling for a place in the next round. A mix of dominant performances and closely fought encounters saw Tamil Nadu, Chandigarh, Services, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Himachal Pradesh, Indian Railways, and Bihar advance to the quarterfinals.

The quarterfinals began on a dramatic note, with Uttar Pradesh causing a major upset by defeating defending champions Services 55–51 to advance to the semifinals. Arjun Deshwal, who also captains Tamil Thalaivas in the Pro Kabaddi League, starred for Uttar Pradesh with an impressive 19-point haul.

The second quarterfinal between Maharashtra and Himachal Pradesh ended in the former’s favour as they recorded a 53-38 win with Ajit Chouhan and Aditya Shinde leading the raiding unit, with scores of 14 and 12 respectively.

The knockouts also saw another major upset as Tamil Nadu advanced to the quarters by defeating one of the strongest teams of the tournament, Haryana, in a tie-breaker, after both teams ended the contest with a score of 35–35.

Chandigarh registered a dominant 45–26 victory over Madhya Pradesh, with the lead Indian player, Pawan Sehrawat, scoring a total of 10 points. This was followed by Maharashtra’s convincing 69–21 win over Pondicherry as they put on an overall great team performance.

One of the standout contests of the day, however, took place between Himachal Pradesh and Rajasthan, with both teams locked in a close battle before Himachal Pradesh eventually emerged victorious 56–53, as two of their star raiders- Pappu Kumar and Mayank Saini scored 15 and 14 points each. Uttar Pradesh continued their impressive run with a commanding 65–24 win over Jammu & Kashmir.

In another one-sided clash, Services defeated Goa 51–22, asserting their authority and control throughout the contest with star raider Devank Dalal scoring 10 points while Ankit led the defence, scoring 4 points.

Bihar pulled off a crucial result by defeating hosts Gujarat 38–34 in a closely contested match. Indian Railways rounded off the pre-quarterfinals with a solid 57–38 victory over Karnataka, combining effective raiding with a strong defensive effort to book their place in the next round.

Railways will take on Bihar, while Chandigarh and Tamil Nadu will face off in the third and fourth quarterfinals, respectively.

–IANS

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