Ultimate Kho Kho 2023 Final Preview: Gujarat Giants look to reverse odds against Chennai Quick Guns

Published at :January 13, 2024 at 3:25 AM

Modified at :January 14, 2024 at 12:04 AM

(Courtesy : Ultimate Kho Kho)

Chennai beat Gujarat in both of their league stage meetings.

After 16 exciting days of Kho Kho and 32 games, two teams are all that remain in the hunt to be champions of Ultimate Kho Kho 2023. That question will be answered on Saturday when Chennai Quick Guns take on Gujarat Giants in the final at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Cuttack.

Chennai Quick Guns will head into the match as the favourites. They have been the best team throughout the tournament and lead the pack in most metrics. They have the most points, the most attacking points and the most defensive points. They also have the season’s best player in Ramji Kashyap, who is not only the league’s best attacker but the best defender as well.

They will go into the contest full of confidence. They have lost only one match all season and both their victories against Gujarat Giants were quite convincing.

“Our confidence is sky high after the comeback win against Telugu Yoddhas in the semi-final,” said Chennai Quick Guns captain Amit Patil. “Vijay Shinde and Ramji Kashyap were just superb in the second innings. Now, we are looking forward to the final match against Gujarat Giants.

“They have a lot of good players in their team and our strategy would be to plan for their whole team rather than a single player. We are not thinking about the result at all, the aim is to give our everything on the mat.”

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Gujarat Giants too will derive a lot of confidence from the way in which they defeated defending champions Odisha Juggernauts in the semifinals. The blistering start they made to the match made the later Odisha Juggernauts comeback irrelevant and they will head into the final knowing fully well that they have the ability to exploit any opening they might get. The likes of Suyash Gargate and Sanket Kadam finding form in the semifinal also augurs well.

“Our team is positive and ready to face Chennai Quick Guns in the final,” said Gujarat Giants captain Akshay Bhangare. “The atmosphere in the stadium has been amazing and it charges the athletes like nothing else. The crowd gave us a lot of energy today even though they were rooting for the home team. We will play with the same passion and vigour in the final.”

The final is not the only action scheduled for Saturday as Odisha Juggernauts will take on Telugu Yoddhas to decide who will finish third.

The exciting action of Ultimate Kho Kho will be telecast on Sony Sports Network’s channels and SonyLiv with live coverage of two matches starting at 7.30pm IST.

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