CHANDIGARH: Having finished third in the previous edition of the Pro Kabaddi League (PKL), UP Yoddha will have one eye on the crown when they open their campaign against defending champions Bengal Warriors in the Season 8 opener on December 22.
The GMR sports-owned franchise from Uttar Pradesh has made wholesale changes to their squad by including big names like Pardeep Narwal, Ankit, Sahil Omprakash, Gaurav Suresh Kumar, Nitin Panwar and James Kamweti ahead of the eighth season.
The season also marks the return of the PKL after a year’s gap due to the disastrous coronavirus pandemic that stopped mostly everything including sports around the globe. To ensure players safety, the organisers decided to conduct the entire tournament in Bengaluru, behind closed doors.
On Wednesday, the PKL organisers announced the season's first leg schedules, and accordingly the UP side will take on Bengal in the third game of the opening day.
“I am very happy and confident with our preparation for the eighth edition of the Pro Kabaddi League. It will be a challenging season ahead for us especially because this will be our first experience inside the bio-bubble and without our fans,” UP Yoddha head coach Jasveer Singh said.
“Coronavirus definitely had its adverse effect on areas such as this, but I am glad that slowly the world and all of us are making our way out of the destruction. Though, the silver lining over the last one year has been that the team has been together at our state-of-the-art UP Yoddha – BK Kabaddi Academy in Meerut. It has helped us not only in strengthening our bond but also has given us immense time to train together which I am sure will show in our performance this season,” he added.
