All-rounder Jaggannath Das produced a remarkable show to hand Gujarat Giants a six-point win over Chennai Quick Guns in the inaugural edition of Ultimate Kho Kho at the Shree Shiv Chhatrapati Sports Complex, Mahalunge, Pune, Maharashtra on Friday.
With this victory, Gujarat Giants not only consolidated their Top-2 position on the points table but also levelled their head-to-head record to 1-1 against Chennai Quick Guns.
Das displayed splendid defensive skills in the third turn and scored six bonus points for his stay of 3.42 minutes. His efforts denied Chennai Quick Guns to add too many points as they finished the third turn with just 10 points leading at a 42-32 score.
It was once again Das who dismissed opposition defender Mahesh Shinde with an impressive skydive to hand Gujarat Giants a winning lead in the crucial final turn before they completed the win with the score of 50-44.
Das also secured five points in the attack for his two dismissals while Suyash Gargate supported him with eight points.
For Chennai Quick Guns, captain Amit Patil scored 10 points.
Earlier, Gujarat Giants' skipper Ranjan Shetty opted to defend as they not only bagged eight points but also restricted the opposition to 19 points in the first seven minutes of the match, thanks to Nilesh Jadhav and Abhinandhan Patil, who scored four bonus points each by spending 3.06 minutes and 3.03 minutes respectively on the mat.
Chennai Quick Guns skipper defended for 3.12 minutes, grabbing four bonus points for his side but Gujarat Giants added 18 points to take a 26-23 lead at the mid-innings break.
Later tonight, Mumbai Khiladis will face a challenge from Telugu Yoddhas in the second match of the day.
Ultimate Kho Kho is promoted by Amit Burman in collaboration with the Kho Kho Federation of India.
Chennai Quick Guns, Gujarat Giants, Mumbai Khiladis, Odisha Juggernauts, Rajasthan Warriors and Telugu Yoddhas are the six franchises competing in season 1 of India's first-ever franchise-based Kho-Kho league.
( With inputs from ANI )
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