Gagan Gowda shone bright to hand UP Yoddhas a 36-33 win over Telugu Titans in a Pro Kabaddi League (PKL) match in Pune on Wednesday.
UP Yoddhas, who trailed at half-time, roared back in the second half to win the game. Gowda bagged 15 points while Bhavani Rajput added 6 more to the cause.
Vijay Malik and Ashish Narwal opened the scoring for Telugu Titans, which gave them an early lead, despite a slow start to the contest.
In the early exchanges, Telugu Titans looked solid in defence, while the raiders chipped in with quick and timely raids.
The early domination paid off, as Telugu Titans landed an all out on UP Yoddhas in the eighth minute of the contest. That gave them a six-point lead and put them in the driver's seat midway through the first half.
But after that, the likes of Hitesh and Bhavani Rajput were hoping to lead the fight back for UP Yoddhas. However, Vijay Malik, Ashish Narwal and Sagar had other plans.
As the first half wore on, UP Yoddhas found it hard to put one past Telugu Titans, who were building on their advantage. At the break, Telugu Titans led 17-10.
UP Yoddhas came out of the blocks quicker than their opponents in the second half, with Gowda making an impact with a flurry of quick raids. They picked up first five points of the half to reduce the deficit to two points.
In the sixth minute of the half, UP Yoddhas picked up an all out and stormed into the lead.
With the momentum on their side, there was no stopping UP Yoddhas after that as they secured a narrow win.
