Pro Kabaddi League 2018: U.P. Yoddha's roller-coaster journey to the playoffs

Phase V - the final stretch of the league stage

Rishank's performance would be key against his ex-team, U Mumba in the Eliminator.

Two matches remained, and both against teams, U Mumba and Bengal Warriors, who had already made their way to the playoffs. The road ahead was tough, but the win over the Pirates gave the Yoddhas the strength to visualize their way to the playoffs.

Although Siddharth Desai, the U Mumba strike raider, did not play the entire match, the win for the Yoddhas was still crucial for two key reasons. Firstly return to form of their captain, Rishank Devadiga was crucial. Secondly was the fact that the otherwise impatient side kept their calm in the final minutes of the match to clinch the encounter.

Now came the final match for the Yoddhas, which was the final match of the league stage as well. Only a win against the Bengal Warriors would have taken the Yoddhas to the playoffs, ahead of the three-time champions, the Patna Pirates.

The game turned out to be a cakewalk for the Yoddhas, as the Warriors, who had already made it to the playoffs, decided to substitute their key players, in order to avoid injury before their Eliminator match. This decision of the Warriors coupled with the terrific performance of the Yoddhas' defense (14 points), especially Nitesh Kumar who scored 6 tackle points, paved their path to the playoffs, for the second consecutive time.

Nobody could have predicted for a side who had a 9-match winless streak and were crawling at the bottom of the table to have won five matches of their final six, to qualify for the playoffs in a flourishing run.

Up Next

The Yoddhas face U Mumba in Eliminator-1 at 8 pm IST on December 30, Sunday at the Rajiv Gandhi Indoor Stadium in Kochi.