The Business Bytes
TBB BUREAU
BHUBANESWAR, JAN 08, 2024
Chennai Quick Guns ascended to the top of the Ultimate Kho Kho Season 2 table with a dominating 42-19 victory over Rajasthan Warriors, at the Jawaharlal Nehru Indoor Stadium in Cuttack on Monday.
The match featured one of the most memorable defensive performances in Ultimate Kho Kho history with a Chennai Quick Guns batch managing to last six minutes and 58 seconds on the mat — the longest ever — and score eight dream run points.
Chennai Quick Guns started the match with an excellent attacking turn. They sent back the first Rajasthan Warriors batch in just 2.28 seconds, with Sachin Bhargo dismissing two defenders with one sky dive. Rajasthan Warriors’ second batch managed a dream run point but Chennai Quick Guns finished the turn on top with a lead of 16-1.
Then came the defensive masterclass that killed the match. The first Chennai Quick Guns batch of Ramji Kashyap, Madan and Vijay Shinde never stopped running as they raked up the dream run points. By the time the final member of the batch — Madan — was dismissed, they were two seconds away from spending an entire turn unconquered and had eight dream run points. Madan, in particular, was outstanding as he kept eluding the Rajasthan Warriors attackers. The score, at the end of the first innings, read 24-7 in favour of Chennai Quick Guns.
The Chennai Quick Guns attackers made short work of three defending batches in Turn 3, leaving Rajasthan Warriors with the mathematically-impossible task of making up a 33-point gap in the final turn.
The heavy defeat means that Rajasthan Warriors have ended a disappointing campaign without a single victory.
Ultimate Kho Kho, promoted by Amit Burman in collaboration with the Kho Kho Federation of India, became the first Indian sports league to secure Series A funding, courtesy the UK-based BNP Group.
