By Our Correspondent
CUTTACK/BHUBANESWAR: Chennai Quick Guns ascended to the top of the Ultimate Kho Kho Season 2 table with a dominating 42-19 victory over Rajasthan Warriors, at the Jawaharlal Nehru Indoor Stadium in Cuttack on Monday.
The match featured one of the most memorable defensive performances in Ultimate Kho Kho history with a Chennai Quick Guns batch managing to last six minutes and 58 seconds on the mat — the longest ever — and score eight dream run points.
Ultimate Kho Kho, promoted by Amit Burman in collaboration with the Kho Kho Federation of India, became the first Indian sports league to secure Series A funding, courtesy the UK-based BNP Group.
Chennai Quick Guns started the match with an excellent attacking turn. They sent back the first Rajasthan Warriors batch in just 2.28 seconds, with Sachin Bhargo dismissing two defenders with one sky dive. Rajasthan Warriors’ second batch managed a dream run point but Chennai Quick Guns finished the turn on top with a lead of 16-1.
Then came the defensive masterclass that killed the match. The first Chennai Quick Guns batch of Ramji Kashyap, Madan and Vijay Shinde never stopped running as they raked up the dream run points. By the time the final member of the batch — Madan — was dismissed, they were two seconds away from spending an entire turn unconquered and had eight dream run points. Madan, in particular, was outstanding as he kept eluding the Rajasthan Warriors attackers. The score, at the end of the first innings, read 24-7 in favour of Chennai Quick Guns.
The Chennai Quick Guns attackers made short work of three defending batches in Turn 3, leaving Rajasthan Warriors with the mathematically-impossible task of making up a 33-point gap in the final turn.
The heavy defeat means that Rajasthan Warriors have ended a disappointing campaign without a single victory.
Earlier, Gujarat Giants earned a comfortable 42-22 victory over Telugu Yoddhas.
Gujarat Giants started the match off with an excellent defensive performance. The first batch of Vinayak Pokarde, Akshay Bhangare and Ram Mohan ran rings around the Telugu Yoddhas attackers, aided by a series of successful reviews. When they were done, they had amassed a whopping five dream run points. At the end of Turn 1, Telugu Yoddhas only held a slender 8-5 lead.
However Telugu Yoddhas hit back with a good defensive performance of their own in Turn 2. Their first batch of Lipun Mukhi, Prasad Patil and Arunk Gunki managed four dream run points. Gunki, in particular, was impressive, spending nearly three minutes on the mat. However, Gujarat Giants seized back the advantage, sending back the next Telugu Yoddhas batch in no time. The scores, when the innings ended, read 19-12 in favour of the Gujarat Giants.
Telugu Yoddhas needed a big performance in Turn 3 to find their way back into the match, but that did not happen. Gujarat Giants’ first and second defensive batches managed three dream run points combined with Ravi Vasave even managing to remain unconquered. That meant that the scores were locked 22-22, heading into the final turn, leaving Telugu Yoddhas with a near-impossible task. With Gujarat Giants attackers putting up a dominating show in Turn 4, the match ended in a comfortable victory for them.
On Tuesday, Odisha Juggernauts will take on Mumbai Khiladis while Chennai Quick Guns will take on Gujarat Giants in the final round of group games.
The exciting action of Ultimate Kho Kho will be telecast on Sony Sports Network’s channels and SonyLiv with live coverage of two matches daily starting at 7.30pm IST.
