Pune, Sep 2 Skipper Pratik Waikar's brilliant performance helped Telugu Yoddhas knockout out Chennai Quick Guns with a convincing 61-43 victory in the eliminator match of the inaugural edition of Ultimate Kho Kho at the Shree Shiv Chhatrapati Sports Complex here on Friday.
Leading from the front, Waikar exhibited a skillful defence of 6.43 minutes, including 3.44 minutes of the first innings. Adarsh Mohit, on the other hand, supported him well by scoring 16 points in the attack as he dismissed six players, four of them on dives.
Amit Patil, with defence of 3.59 minutes, and Madan (8 points) performed well for Chennai Quick Guns but couldn't save their side from an 18-point defeat.
Aiming to seal a berth in the final, Telugu Yoddhas will play the loser of qualifier 1, which will be played later on Friday night wherein the season's top two teams Gujarat Giants and Odisha Juggernauts will lock horns.
Qualifier 2 will be played on Saturday while the final is scheduled on Sunday.
Waikar opened the account for Telugu Yoddhas when he dismissed B. Raju with a dive. However, in-form Ramji Kashyap (3.14 mins) and Amit Patil (3.59 mins) scored four bonus points together for Chennai Quick Guns while the latter added two more bonus points after extending his stay for 45 seconds. Telugu Yoddhas ended the opening turn at a 19-6 lead.
Switching sides, Waikar added six bonus points for Telugu Yoddhas during his defence of three minutes and 44 seconds but Chennai Quick Guns managed to bag 20 points to keep themselves ahead with a close 26-25 score after the first innings.
After a tough-fought first inning, Telugu Yoddhas looked too aggressive. They captured 13 defenders, adding 34 points which were enough to take the game away from Chennai Quick Guns' reach with a 59-26 lead.
The Patil-led Chennai Quick Guns, though, gave their all but Waikar once again showcased exceptional defence skills to add two bonus points. His 2.59-minute defence not only restricted oppositions to just 17 points in the final turn but also secured an easy win for his side.
With a massive prize pool of INR 2 crore up for grabs, the title winners will get INR 1 crore along with the coveted trophy whereas second and third-placed teams will take home INR 50 lakh and INR 30 lakh respectively.
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