PKL 2019 | Entry into top 6 extremely gratifying, says Jasveer Singh
UP Yoddha’s coach Jasveer Singh, after their win against Jaipur Pink Panthers, has said that the team’s entry into top 6 is extremely gratifying as they have been on the fringes for far too long. He also talked about the team’s performance and what changed before their five match winning streak.
Team work makes the dream work - UP Yoddha justified this saying in their last match against Jaipur Pink Panthers where they won by six points. This was UP Yoddha’s fifth consecutive win and the win helped them get past Panthers as well as U Mumba to the 5th position.
“When you win a couple of games in a row, you have to make the momentum count and that is what we did. There is visible improvement with every passing game. We were lingering towards the foot of the table and to enter the top six from that position is extremely gratifying. But we need to maintain this level to ensure we remain there,” coach Jasveer Singh said while talking about the reason for upturn in performance in the post-match presentation.
"Happy with the results, but I was happy earlier as well. I had belief in the team even when we were losing. The performances were there to see but injuries to our key players was the difference between winning and losing at that point in time. I knew once we had our big guns back, we would easily make up any lost ground.”
In the last two matches, a strong raiding trio has emerged for the Yoddhas in Rishank Devadiga, Surender Gill and Shrikant Jadhav. In the last match as well these three contributed equally and did well for the team. Shrikant scored 9 points whereas Rishank and Surender supported him well by scoring 8 and 6 points.
“Shrikant has been brilliant throughout the season. Rishank was nursing injuries earlier in the season but has returned to full fitness and is playing some outstanding kabaddi. When you play well, your confidence improves and subsequently, the performance does as well,” Singh raid about the raiding unit’s performance.
The defence played well by scoring 8 points with skipper Nitesh Kumar emerging as the top scorer thanks to his three tackle points.
“Kabaddi is a team sport. When everyone contributes and does their job well, it is obviously a good sign. When one of our raiders was out, the other two were successful in reviving him or keeping the scoreboard ticking. It was a good all-round effort from the team,” Singh concluded.