Ultimate Kho Kho: Chennai Quick Guns clinch hat-trick of wins; Telugu Yoddhas claim top spot

Pune, Aug 23 (IANS) In-form Chennai Quick Guns completed an impressive hat-trick of wins in the inaugural edition of Ultimate Kho Kho by clinching a sensational 2-point win against Gujarat Giants while Telugu Yoddhas secured top position on the points table by thrashing Mumbai Khiladis by 12 points at the Shree Shiv Chhatrapati Sports Complex, here on Tuesday.

Extending his brilliant performance in the league, Ramji Kashyap scored massive 20 points with six dismissals as Chennai Quick Guns finished the thrilling match with a 53-51 score. Madan also contributed with 11 points for the winning side.

While in Telugu Yoddha's 12-point win skipper Prajwal K.H and Sachin Bhargo put up solid performances. Leading from the front, Prajwal defended for three minutes and one second while Bhargo recorded an all-round show with 10 points in attack and three minutes and 47 seconds in the defence to hand Mumbai Khiladis their third successive defeat with a 55-43 score.

With this win, Telugu Yoddhas also went past Gujarat Giants to take the top position on the points table with 12 points.

Coming into the match after two back-to-back wins, Chennai Quick Guns made a confident start. But despite a tough challenge from the opposition, Gujarat Giants managed to secure a narrow two-point lead with a 27-25 score at the end of the first innings.

Chennai Quick Guns, however, gained momentum in the second part of the game when they scored 22 points in the third turn which kept them ahead in the game with a 47-31 score.

They further held their nerves in the crucial final t'rn and didn't allow strong Gujarat Giants to score enough points before securing a nail-biting victory in the end.

Aniket Pote scored 10 points for Gujarat Giants.

Earlier in the first match of the day, Telugu Yoddhas started off aggressively to finish the first innings at 28-20.

Helping Mumbai Khiladis to fightback, in-form Durvesh Salunke gave his best as he not only secured four bonus points with a defence of three minutes and 11 seconds but also restricted Telugu Yoddhas to just 23 points.

However, with enough lead in their favour at 51-24, Prajwal ensured his side complete the win by spending more than three minutes on the field.

Season's best defender Salunke, proved his mettle once again for Mumbai Khiladis with a sensational defence time of five minutes and 11 seconds, including two minutes of the first innings. Salunke also scored six points in attack while Avik Singh was the other top performer for Mumbai Khiladis with his eight points.

On Wednesday, Odisha Juggernauts and Mumbai Khiladis will take on Chennai Quick Guns and Rajasthan Warriors respectively in the first and second match.

Six franchises, Chennai Quick Guns, Gujarat Giants, Mumbai Khiladis, Odisha Juggernauts, Rajasthan Warriors and Telugu Yoddhas, have been competing in Season 1. Ultimate Kho Kho is promoted by Amit Burman in collaboration with the Kho Kho Federation of India.

The final of India's first-ever franchise-based Kho-Kho league will be played on September 4.