Pune, Dec 7 (IANS): Gagan Gowda continued to play a starring role for the UP Yoddhas in Season 11 of the Pro Kabaddi League (PKL), as he led his side to an important win against the Puneri Paltan, in the Badminton Hall, at the Balewadi Sports Complex here on Saturday. Gowda scored 15 points as the UP Yoddhas won 36-33. For the Puneri Paltan, Pankaj Mohite scored 11 points.

The in-form Gowda got the UP Yoddhas off to a quick start, and his defenders backed him well, as they picked up an early lead. However, the Puneri Paltan, cheered on by the home crowd, had the skipper Akash Shinde leading by example, in the initial exchanges. But, just after the five-minute mark, Gowda landed a Super Raid, picking up three important points.

It was an action-packed first ten minutes of the game, as both the Puneri Paltan and UP Yoddhas were looking to score quickly. Midway through the first half, however, the advantage was with the UP Yoddhas, who led by 4 points. A few minutes later, the UP Yoddhas inflicted an All Out on the Puneri Paltan and significantly increased their advantage over the home team.

As the half wore on, all the players in the starting line-up had scored points for the UP Yoddas, with Gowda, Bhavani Rajput, Hitesh and Sumit leading the way. That though wasn’t the case with the Puneri Paltan, who were finding it tough to go through the gears. At the halftime break, the UP Yoddhas led 21-11.

The second half started similarly – the UP Yoddhas were out of the blocks quicker and the tall raiders were taking big strides away from the Puneri Paltan. The defending champions though stuck to their plans and foiled a couple of crucial attacks, including a Mohit Goyat Super Tackle on Gowda, which brought the deficit down to five points.

Suddenly, the Puneri Paltan were looking like a very different team – Pankaj Mohite, Mohit Goyat and Aryavardhan Navale were leading the charge and had wrestled away the momentum from the UP Yoddhas. At the half-hour mark, it was anybody’s game, with the difference between both sides at 5 points.

With less than 10 minutes in the game, Gagan Gowda completed his Super 10. For the Puneri Paltan, there was still quite a bit to do, and even though Pankaj Mohite was doing his best, Gagan Gowda was proving to be the difference. Eventually, the Puneri Paltan drove the UP Yoddhas close, but the defending champions fell just short.