A top-class performance from the Chennai Quick Guns saw them return to the summit of the Ultimate Kho Kho Season 2 standings with a dominating 38-21 victory over Gujarat Giants at the Jawaharlal Nehru Indoor Stadium in Cuttack on Tuesday.

Chennai Quick Guns made an excellent start to Turn 1, dismissing the first Gujarat Giants batch in under three minutes. However, the second batch - Shubham Thorat Rajvardhan Patil and Pabani Sabar - registered a Dream Run. And with all three members of the third batch staying unbeaten, the Chennai Quick Guns carried a 12-1 lead going into the second turn.

Turn 2 was where Chennai Quick Guns’ defenders won the game. Just 24 hours after setting a new record for the longest time spent on the mat by a single batch, Chennai Quick Guns came close to bettering it. This time, the batch of Ramji Kashyap, Madan and Vijay Shinde recorded an active time of six minutes and 53 seconds, seven seconds shy of remaining an entire turn unconquered.

First, Ramji eluded the Gujarat Giants attackers for three minutes, followed by Madan and Vijay chipping in with impressive Dream Runs. The trio had earned eight Dream Run points. Going by the numbers, Turn 2 featured only the second instance of the defending team scoring more than the attacking team in Ultimate Kho Kho Season 2.

Chennai Quick Guns’ attackers went full throttle in Turn 3, sending back the first two Gujarat Giants batches in under four minutes. With their third batch 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.

While they managed to win 14 points in Turn 4, the Gujarat Giants ultimately fell short of breath and spirit as they stared at the Quick Guns walking out with a 17-point triumph.

The result, coupled with Odisha Juggernauts’ win over Mumbai Khiladis, means that Chennai Quick Guns will take on Telugu Yoddhas in the second semifinal on Thursday. The first semifinal will see Odisha Juggernauts take on Gujarat Giants.

Match Awards

Attacker of the Match: Sachin Bhargo (Chennai Quick Guns)

Defender of the Match: Vijay Shinde (Chennai Quick Guns)

Ultimate Kho of the Match: Ramji Kashyap (Chennai Quick Guns)