Durvesh Salunke put up a sensational show in the defence to help Mumbai Khiladis bounce back in the inaugural edition of the Ultimate Kho Kho while Odisha juggernauts ended Chennai Quick Guns’ winning run at the Shree Shiv Chhatrapati Sports Complex, Mahalunge, Pune, Maharashtra on Wednesday.
Salunke stood tall for Mumbai Khiladis in the crucial final turn with a defence of four minutes and 16 seconds as they secured a 14-point win over Rajasthan Warriors. It was the first win for Mumbai Khiladis following three successive losses. Avik Singha was another performer for the winning team with eight points.
Meanwhile, in the first match of the day, Odisha Juggernauts secured a 10-point win to complete the winning hat-trick. With this victory they not only entered the Top-2 on the points table with 12 points but also completed a league double over Chennai Quick Guns. Earlier, they had won by eight points.
Nilesh Jadhav scored 15 points for Odisha Juggernauts which included five brilliant dives, skipper Milind Chavarekar and Suraj Lande supported him well with nine and eight points respectively.
Mumbai Khiladis started the game with a 23-2 lead in the first turn. However, searching for their first win of the season, Rajasthan Warriors fought back well by scoring 25 points to end the first innings 27-25.
Dilrajsing Sengar, however, performed well in the defence for Rajasthan Warriors by scoring four bonus points for his stay of 3.13 minutes. Due to Sengar’s show, Mumbai Khiladis managed to bag only 21 points as they went into the final turn with a 46-31 lead.
Salunke, on the other hand, gave his best to take the win out of Rajasthan Warriors’ reach by securing eight bonus points for his strong defence of four minutes and 16 seconds. Mumbai Khiladis ended the game convincingly with a 56-42 score.
Nikhil B scored eight points for Rajasthan Warriors.
Earlier, showcasing a quality defencive skills, Odisha Juggernauts restricted the opposition with only 19-4 lead in the first seven minutes, thanks to Gowtham MK and Jagannatha Murmu’s dreams runs with defence of 2.33 minutes and 2.59 minutes respectively,
Chennai Quick Guns came into the match after three back-to-back wins.
Odisha Juggernauts took just five minutes to level the scores in the second turn before ending the first innings with a 28-19 lead.
All-rounder Subhasis Santra claimed four bonus points for Odisha Juggernauts in the third turn with his stay of 3.04 minutes as Chennai Quick Guns took a narrow five-point lead with 37-32 score.
Odisha Juggernauts added 19 more points to their tally in the final turn to secure a comfortable win with 51-41 score.
For Chennai Quick Guns, P Narasayya and Manoj Patil struck eight points each.
On Thursday, Odisha Juggernauts will clash with Rajasthan Warriors while Gujarat Giants will take on Telugu Yoddhas.
Season 1 of India’s first-ever franchise-based league has been featuring six franchises—Chennai Quick Guns, Gujarat Giants, Mumbai Khiladis, Odisha Juggernauts, Rajasthan Warriors and Telugu Yoddhas.
Ultimate Kho Kho is promoted by Amit Burman in collaboration with the Kho Kho Federation of India. Final will take place on September 4.
Artsmith Media Release