Chennai Quick Guns ended the group stages of the 2023-24 Ultimate Kho Kho on top of the table with a dominating 38-21 victory over Gujarat Giants on Tuesday.
The result, coupled with Odisha Juggernauts’ win over Mumbai Khiladis, means that Chennai Quick Guns will take on Telugu Yoddhas in the second semi-final on Thursday.
The first semi-final will see Odisha Juggernauts take on Gujarat Giants.
Chennai Quick Guns made a good start to Turn 1, sending the first Gujarat Giants batch back in under three minutes. The second batch of Shubham Thorat, Rajvardhan Patil and Pabani Sabar, however, managed a dream run point. And with all three members of the third batch staying unconquered, the Quick Guns led 12-1 going into the second turn.
Turn 2 was where Chennai Quick Guns’ defenders killed the match off. Just a day after setting a new record for the longest time spent on the mat by a single batch, Chennai Quick Guns came close to beating it.
This time, the batch of Ramji Kashyap, Madan and Vjay Shinde went six minutes and 53 seconds, just seven seconds short of lasting an entire turn unconquered.
First Kashyap eluded the Gujarat Giants attackers for a full three minutes, then Madan and Shinde chipped in with impressive runs of their own. The trio earned eight dream run points. Turn 2 featured only the second instance of the defending team scoring more than the attacking team in the ongoing season.
The Quicks Guns attackers came to the party in Turn 3, sending back the first two Gujarat Giants batches in under four minutes. With their third batch too failing to see out time, the Giants were faced with the mathematically-impossible task of closing down a 31-point gap in the final turn.
Odisha win against Mumbai
Earlier, Odisha Juggernauts ended their group stage campaign with a 34-23 victory over Mumbai Khiladis.
Mumbai Khiladis started the match with their first defending batch of Hrushikesh Murchavade, Sibin M, and Pratik Devare securing two dream run points. But the Juggernauts made quick work of the second batch to end Turn 1 with a 12-2 lead.
Turn 2 kicked off with the reigning champions’ first defending batch of Debendra Nath, Vishal and Nikhil Sodaye securing a dream run point. Their second batch of Vishal Oram, Sobhag Sriganda and Visag S did one better by getting two dream run points.
The match, at the end of the first innings, looked tantalisingly poised with the scores at 15-14 in favour of Odisha Juggernauts.
Juggernauts then turned the tide in their favour by making quick work of the first two Mumbai Khiladis batches. That meant that they carried a 15-point lead into the final turn. Manoj Kumar was the pick of the attackers for Juggernauts with six points.
And if there was a glimmer of hope for Mumbai Khiladis, Odisha Juggernauts’ opening batch of Mahesha P, Niranjan Samal and MD Mirajul killed it with a superb defensive display.
They ran rings around the Mumbai Khiladis attackers, securing five dream run points and spending five minutes and 20 seconds on the mat.
Mahesha, in particular, was impressive, as he eluded the Mumbai Khiladis attackers for two minutes and 33 seconds.