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, Mahalunge, Pune, Maharashtra 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 at the Top-2 of the points table, they quickly gained momentum and took charge of 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 with 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 for taking 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.Later tonight, Telugu Yoddhas and Odisha Juggernauts will play the last match of the league stage.
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 qualifier 2 will take place on Saturday. The final will be played on Sunday.
( With inputs from ANI )
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