Pune: Gujarat Giants secured a 47-42 win over Rajasthan Warriors to finish the league stage on a winning note in the inaugural edition of Ultimate Kho Kho at the Shree Shiv Chhatrapati Sports Complex here on Wednesday.
Wazir Abhinandhan Patil clinched eight points in Gujarat Giants’ victory. Skipper Majahar Jamadar, on the other hand, put up an impressive show for Rajasthan Warriors with seven points.
Despite Rajasthan Warriors presenting some challenges for Gujarat Giants, who have already cemented their position in the Top-2 on the points table, they quickly gained the momentum and took charge of the things.
Sagar Potdar secured four bonus points for Gujarat Giants for his 3.21-minute defence, which restricted Rajasthan Warriors to just 18 points in the third turn.
In front of a good opposition attack, Rajasthan Warriors had a difficult task at their hand to defend a lead of 13 points in the final turn.
Nilesh Patil provided Gujarat Giants a winning lead with less than two minutes left. He handed them three points by capturing Yalla Satish with a skilled pole dive before Gujarat Giants secured the match comfortably in the end.
Earlier, coming into the match following their first win on Tuesday, Rajasthan Warriors dismissed eight opposition defenders to take a 20-2 lead in the opening turn.
Switching positions, Akshay Ganpule tested Gujarat Giants’ attack. He claimed two bonus points for Rajasthan Warriors during his stay of two minutes and 45 seconds but Gujarat Giants were successful to keep themselves ahead in the game with a narrow 23-22 lead at the innings break.
With 23 points, Gujarat Giants have qualified for the playoffs of India’s first-ever franchise-based Kho-Kho league, alongside Odisha Juggernauts (21pts), Telugu Yoddhas (16pts) and Chennai Quick Guns (15pts).
Playoffs will kickstart on Friday qualifier 1 and the eliminator while the qualifier 2 will take place on Saturday.
Final will be played on Sunday.
(IANS)
