Chennai Quick Guns reached the final of the 2023-24 Ultimate Kho Kho with a 31-29 victory over Telugu Yoddhas in the second semi-final on Thursday.
They will take on Gujarat Giants, who beat defending champions Odisha Juggernauts in the first semi-final.
Despite Telugu Yoddhas seizing an early advantage, league stage toppers Chennai Quick Guns clawed their way back into the match with an impressive attacking performance in the final turn.
All eyes were on the in-form Ramji Kashyap going into Turn 1, but it was another big name player who grabbed all the attention. Yoddhas skipper Pratik Waikar was in regal form, scoring a whopping ten points for his team in the turn.
Chennai Quick Guns’ first batch – Kashyap, Vijay Shinde and Madan – earned the customary two dream run points. But that was all that the Yoddhas attackers led by Waikar allowed their opponents.
At the end of the turn, Telugu Yoddhas had a 14-2 advantage.
The Yoddhas consolidated the advantage in Turn 2 with their first batch of Waikar, Aditya Ganpule and Avdhut Patil staying on the mat for four minutes and seven seconds, and getting three dream run points. The first innings ended with the score at 17-14 in their favour.
Waikar continued his superb show in Turn 3, taking just four seconds to send back his first victim.
The first Quick Guns batch lasted just two minutes and 11 seconds, which forced their prime batch of Ramji, Shinde and Madan to enter the mat early.
The trio did their job to perfection, spending four minutes and 18 seconds on the mat to earn three dream run points. The Yoddhas still held a 29-17 lead heading into the final turn.
The Quick Guns attackers, however, came to the party in Turn 4, sending back the first two Telugu Yoddhas batches in quick time and levelling the scores. And with Laxman Gawas sending back Patil, the Chennai Quick Guns had the points they needed to storm into the final.
Gujarat Giants beat Odisha Juggernauts
Earlier in the day, Gujarat Giants marched into the final, overcoming defending champions Odisha Juggernauts 29-27 in the first semi-final.
The Giants dominated the first innings as their opponents seemingly switched off. The Juggernauts put in an improved show in the second half, but the nine-point advantage they conceded in the first proved too much to overcome.
Suyash Gargate and Sanket Kadam were the pick of the attackers for Gujarat Giants with six points each.
Odisha Juggernauts made a nightmare start to the match. They not only lost their review for the first innings within a matter of minutes but conceded five dream run points to the first Gujarat Giants batch of Gargate, Deepak Madhav and Shubham Thorat.
With one member of the next batch staying unconquered, the Juggernauts led 10-5 after the first turn.
Things went from bad to worse for them in Turn 2. The Gujarat Giants attackers were rampant, not letting their opponents have a single dream run point. At the end of the first innings, their team had a nine-point advantage with the scores standing at 19-10 in their favour.
Odisha Juggernauts, though, came back strongly in Turn 3. They sent back the first two Gujarat Giants batches in just over four minutes. The likes of Dipesh More and Avinash Desai suddenly seemed infused with energy.
That fightback was too little too late though as despite an impressive comeback, the Juggernauts went into the final turn with a slender five-point lead.
The Gujarat Giants attackers overcame that with ease in the final turn to knock the reigning champions out of the competition.
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