By Our Correspondent
CUTTACK/BHUBANESWAR: Telugu Yoddhas secured their second successive victory in the Ultimate Kho Kho Season 2 as they beat Rajasthan Warriors 34-27 on Monday, while Chennai Quick Guns continued their unbeaten run to inflict the first defeat on Gujarat Giants by 35-29 at the Jawaharlal Nehru Indoor Stadium in Cuttack. For Telugu Yoddhas, Pratik Waikar scored the most 8 points in the contest. Aditya Ganpule and Rahul Mandal also contributed to the attack with a total of 12 points.
Aditya and Akash Tagore stayed on the mat for more than 4 minutes and earned crucial dream run bonus points for the winning side as well. 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.
The first turn saw a close contest between both teams as Rajasthan Warriors earned 2 dream run bonus points, whereas Telugu Yoddhas registered 14 points. The Telugu Yoddhas extended their lead in the second turn when they switched to defence, limiting their opponents to only 10 points. They also earned three dream run bonus points before showcasing a sublime attacking performance, claiming a total of 16 points in the third turn.
In the end, the target proved too big for Rajasthan as they could only pick up 14 points in the final turn to face another defeat in Season 2. Earlier, Ramji Kashyap proved to be the main man for Chennai once again as he clinched 10 points and stayed on the mat for more than four minutes to earn crucial dream run bonus points for his team.
Chennai Quick Guns began the contest positively, allowing Gujarat Giants to claim only 14 points in the first turn. They also earned two dream run bonus points to reduce the difference before the start of the following turn that went in the favour of Gujarat. The first batch of Shubham Thorat, Deepak Madhav and Faizankha Pathan attained three crucial dream run bonus points as Chennai could only manage to notch up 8 points during the attack.
Ramji Kashyap brought Chennai Quick Guns back into the game during the third turn when he showcased a sublime defensive display and earned record five dream run bonus points for the first time in Season 2. On the other hand, Gujarat managed to accumulate only 12 points in attack, establishing a 16-point target. Chennai chased the target by securing a total of 20 points in the final turn to seize victory.Chennai Quick Guns will now take on defending champions Odisha Juggernauts on Tuesday, while Mumbai Khiladis will go up against Gujarat Giants.
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.
