By Our Correspondent
CUTTACK/BHUBANESWAR: Ramji Kashyap produced a scintillating all-round performance as Chennai Quick Guns registered a 38-32 win over Telugu Yoddhas while Gujarat Giants defeated Rajasthan Warriors 41-30 in their first match of the Ultimate Kho Kho Season 2 at the Jawaharlal Nehru Indoor Stadium in Cuttack on Monday.
Promoted by Amit Burman in collaboration with the Kho Kho Federation of India, Ultimate Kho Kho became a huge hit in the first season, emerging as India’s third-largest non-cricket league in terms of television viewership. It also became the first Indian sports league to secure Series A funding, courtesy of the UK-based BNP Group.
Ramji scored a total of 14 points in the contest with three skydives and stayed on the mat for more than 2.43 minutes to earn crucial dream run bonus points as well. Wajir Durvesh Salunke also clinched 10 points to take Chennai to their first victory in the ongoing edition.
Chennai Quick Guns came to chase after losing the toss and secured 18 points with Ramji claiming six points during the first turn. The all-rounder also continued his positive intent in defence and earned three dream run bonus points.
Telugu Yoddhas only managed to win 14 points before the end of the first inning. The third turn saw an intense battle between both teams as Chennai fetched 16 points whereas Telugu Yoddhas got two dream run bonus points as well.
Chennai’s defence stood firm in the last turn and gave Telugu Yoddhas only 16 points with Ramji claiming another dream run bonus point to complete a fantastic victory for his team.
Earlier, P Narasayya contributed to the Gujarat Giants’ win with 8 points while Sanket Kadam and Suyash Gargate notched up 6 points each in the match. Shubham Thorat, Abhinandan Patil and Akshay Bhangare defended brilliantly for more than 6.53 minutes to earn crucial dream run bonus points for the winning team.
Gujarat Giants stayed on the top of the game from the get-go as they earned a dream run in the first turn, allowing Rajasthan Warriors to get only 14 points. They maintained their positive intent when they switched to chase and notched up 22 points to obtain a big lead in the first inning.
Rajasthan Warriors began the second inning aggressively and got the first batch of Gujarat’s defence in just 1.30 minutes. However, Gujarat Giants then earned two dream run bonus points to turn the match completely in their favour. Rajasthan managed to gain 16 points during the third turn but it wasn’t enough as Gujarat secured 16 points in turn four as well to clinch the contest.
Gujarat Giants will now clash with Mumbai Khiladis on Tuesday while defending champions Odisha Juggernauts will face Chennai Quick Guns in their second match of Ultimate Kho Kho Season 2.
The exciting action of Season 2 will be telecasted on Sony Sports Network’s channels and SonyLIV with live coverage of daily two matches starting at 7:30 PM IST.
