By Our Correspondent
CUTTACK/BHUBANESWAR: Telugu Yoddhas moved to the top of the Ultimate Kho Kho Season 2 table with a 38-30 victory over Chennai Quick Guns at the Jawaharlal Nehru Indoor Stadium in Cuttack on Friday. The result meant that Telugu Yoddhas became the first team to qualify for the semifinals. Rahul Mandal was the star of the show for Telugu Yoddhas topping the attacking charts with 10 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.
Telugu Yoddhas attacked first and they got off to a flier, sending back Chennai Quick Guns’ first batch in just a minute and 43 seconds. Their second batch, which included the in-form Ramji Kashyap, only managed to fare marginally better, lasting a minute and 43 seconds.
There was still more than two minutes left when the third batch returned to the bench. And when all three players of the fourth batch went off, there were still 37 seconds left on the clock. Not one of the four Chennai Quick Guns batches managed to last even two minutes. It was a stunning attacking turn from the Telugu Yoddhas as they led 24-0. The star of the show was Mandal with ten points, which included four sky dives and a pole dive.
Chennai Quick Guns got their quest for a recovery off to a good start in Turn 2 as the first Telugu Yoddhas batch lasted only two minutes and 41 seconds on the mat. However, their second batch of Dhruv, Mandal and Akash Togare frustrated the Chennai Quick Gun attackers, scoring a dream run point. Telugu Yoddhas went into the second innings with a 25-12 lead.
Despite a couple of dream run points in Turn 3, Chennai Quick Guns went into the final turn with a 23-point lead to overturn. It was a lead that Telugu Yoddhas managed to defend despite a good show by the Chennai Quick Guns attackers.
Saturday will see Gujarat Giants take on Odisha Juggernauts in the first game. Chennai Quick Guns will take on Mumbai Khiladis in the second game.
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.
