Ultimate Kho Kho: Telugu Yoddhas, Gujarat Giants continue winning streak

Rajasthan were trumped by the commanding Telugu.

Telugu Yoddhas, a GMR Group-owned franchisee maintained their winning streak with a whimsical win over Rajasthan Warriors 68-47, at Shri Shiv Chhatrapati Sports Complex, Pune in match five of the inaugural season of Ultimate Kho-Kho League. Riding on the back of their attackers and defenders, who once again showcased the balance game from their respective departments, Yoddhas are now mounted number One on the table with 6 points to their kitty. Rohan Shingade who earned six points through a single Dream Run by running past the attackers of the Warriors was awarded Ultimate Kho of the Match and Best Defender. While Prasad Radye earned the Best Attacker award from the match.

Yoddhas dominated the first two turns

Yoddhas attacker inflicted an all-out over the first three defenders (1st Batch) of Rajasthan Warriors with the help of three pole dives (each for one), one of the highest touch points but on the other hand, they failed to stop warrior defender to complete his Dream Run and helped their opponent earned two points with this run. With a total of three Pole Dives and two Sky Dives, Yoddhas managed to inflict an all-out on three batches (nine defenders) of Rajasthan Warriors and with the end of Turn One, the score read 24-2 favouring Yoddhas side.

With the start of Turn, Rajasthan in an attacking position played smartly over Yoddhas. However, Yoddhas turned the game at the final moment of Turn Two when Yoddhas defender Rohan wearing a 13-number jersey, completed three Dream Runs in a single run and gifted his side six crucial points while defending against the Warriors. Nearing the end of Turn Two, Rajasthan were close to levelling the score but the heroic run by Rohan took the score away from them and Yoddhas led the scoresheet by 30-20 at the end of Turn Two.

‘Full on chase’, in another words, inflicting an all-out over all the Four Batches (twelve attackers) in a Turn which also earns extra three points for the attacking and Yoddhas did in an exemplary attacking session. Yoddhas entirely dominated Turn Three and with the help of four Sky Dives and three Pole Dives, earned a total of 36 points by Yoddhas attackers taking a score too far from Warriors 66-20, with the end of Turn Three.

A sure shot win for Yoddhas

Yoddhas had already sealed their win with 3rd Turn and the last Turn was a formality to play just to narrow down the score by Warriors. Arun Gunki from Telugu made his Dream Run in this turn and earned another two points for his side while defending. The gigantic difference of points was always too away for the Warriors to reach even near it and finally, the score read 68-47 in Yoddha's favour.

“Our plan was to win and we stuck to our strategy. We practised on fitness and planning in the last 15 days and we have some excellent senior players who give us good advice, and that’s why we have been able to put our plans to reality”, said Rohan post winning Ultimate Kho of the Match award.

Yoddhas will now next play tomorrow against their 1s opponent of the League Chennai Quick Guns, where they easily managed to get the upper hand on them.

Gujarat Giants earn a hard fought victory

While Gujarat Giants made to work hard by Odisha Juggernauts during a close five-point win, Telugu Yoddhas thrashed Rajasthan Warriors by 21 points comfortably, thanks to Adarsh Mohite’s brilliant all-round show.

Odisha Juggernauts ended the first turn with a 23-4 lead. Mahesha P stood out in the first seven minutes of the game for them as he scored eight points by capturing three Gujarat Giants players that included two with dives.

However, with Aniket Pote and Jaggannath Das dismissing two players each, Gujarat Giants fought-back when they turned to attack and finished the first innings with a 26-25 score in their favour.

Odisha Juggernauts scored 24 points in the first seven minutes of second half to take a 49-26 lead.

It was skipper Ranjan Shetty who came to the rescue of Gujarat Giants when the scores were locked at 49-48 in opposition’s favour with less than 90 second left in the game. Ranjan captured Odisha Juggernauts defender with a sensational pole dive dismissal as Gujarat Giants completed a thrilling win with 54-49 score.

Earlier in the first match of the day, Mohite impressed in the defence as he spent three minutes 43 seconds on the field in the first innings and then scored 10 points to guide Telugu Yoddhas to a convincing 68-47 win.  

Besides Mohite, Prasad Radye scored 13 points for Telugu Yoddhas in attack with two dives while Rohan Shingade also scored 10 points.

For Rajasthan Warriors, captain Majhar Jamadar struck 17 points by capturing six wickets which included six dives. Shushant Kaldhone took four wickets, scoring nine points.

Rajasthan Warriors won the toss and chose to defend. Telugu Yoddhas started off with the powerplay by activating two wazirs—Sachin Bhargo and Pratik Waikar.

Rajasthan’s Akshay Ganpule and Govind Yadav tested the defence of Telugu Yoddhas and also earned two defence bonus points for the side. However, Arun Gunki captured Govind with a brilliant pole dive to dismiss the first opposition batch in two minutes and 36 seconds as Yoddhas continued aggression to end the first turn with 24-2 lead.

Rajasthan Warriors responded well in the attack but Mohite remained not out, spending more than three minutes on the mat to ensure Telugu Yoddhas complete the first innings with a 30-20 lead.Telugu Yoddhas didn’t let momentum slip and extended their lead by scoring an impressive 36 points in the first seven minutes of second innings while attacking.

They further maintained their dominance in the final turn as well to seal the match quite comfortably.