Telugu Yoddhas, the GMR Group-owned team, jumped to second place in the points table after registering a whopping 40-22 win over Mumbai Khiladis for their third consecutive victory of the Ultimate Kho Kho Season 2 at the Jawaharlal Nehru Indoor Stadium. It is the largest margin of victory for any team in the ongoing season.
For the Yoddhas, Aditya Ganpule top scored with nine points including five dream runs and four touch points and bagged the Defender of the Match award. Milind Chavrekar, who earned six points from the game, was also adjudged with the Attacker of the Match award, while Rahul Mandal scored five in the dominating win. Captain Pratik Waikar, Arun Gunki, Sourabh Adavkar and Prasad Radye contributed to their team’s victory by scoring four points each.
Telugu Yoddhas will play next against Chennai Quick Guns on January 5, 2024. The game will be telecast LIVE and exclusively on the Sony Sports Network and can be streamed LIVE on the SonyLIV platform from 7:30 PM onwards.
Telugu Yoddhas started the match on the attacking side and turned on the screws on the opposition, securing touch points after touch points. They scored 16 points, including five Running Touches, two Sky Dives and one Pole Dive, and conceded just one point to the Mumbai Khiladis. At the end of Turn 1, the Yoddhas led 16-1.
The first batch of defenders in Turn 2 for the Yoddhas, Avdhut Patil, Pratik Waikar and Aditya Ganpule, scored a record-breaking five dream run points, lasting a whopping five minutes and 17 seconds. The Khiladis could only score six attacking points, the lowest in the season, as the first innings ended with the Yoddhas going into the break with a 14-point lead.
The Yoddhas eliminated the first batch of Khiladi's defenders in 90 seconds as they thoroughly used the power play. Wazirs, Pratik Waikar and Sourabh Adavkar, made full use of these advantage scoring touch points at will, with Arun Gunki and Aditya Ganpule also sending defenders back. Batch 2 of the Khiladi defenders were also quickly eliminated, while the third batch was left with just one defender at the end of Turn 3, who scored a dream run for the side. The Yoddhas had a commanding 29-point lead, scoring 37-8.
The Mumbai Khiladis started Turn 4 using the power play to make an improbable comeback. Still, the first batch of defenders of the Telugu Yoddhas lasted 4 minutes 18 seconds, scoring three dream run points, with Rahul Mandal being the last player to be tagged out. Batch two lasted the turn with just 34 seconds left in the match and, in the end, took home the victory with a commanding 18-point win, and the final score read 40-22.
