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Maharashtra teams dominate kho kho junior nationals to claim titles
Maharashtra boys defeated Kolhapur13-12, while girls over come Karnataka 9-7.
Pune Maharashtra continued their dominance in Kho Kho as they conquered boys and girls title in the junior Kho Kho national championship which concluded at Surat recently.
Maharashtra boys defeated Kolhapur13-12, while girls over come Karnataka 9-7.
The state is represented by three teams at the nationals – Maharashtra, Kolhapur and Vidharbha.
It turned out to be close games as state teams had to fight till last minute to defend their titles.
“Our defence did not play well as in previous games and that was the reason Karnataka came so close. All thanks to attack (running), where we delivered a good performance,” explained Janhavi Pethe player of the tournament -- Janaki Devi award.
Chasing first, the girls from Maharashtra got five Karnataka players out while Karnataka could only manage to out three Maharashtra players. Both the teams acquired 4 points in the second innings which helped Maharashtra to keep their 2-point lead intact.
Reshma Rathod, was unstoppable as she managed to get players out in the second innings and during the attack she ran for five minutes and 40 seconds, which turned out to the turning point of the match.
“Of 12 players – three players had experience of playing junior national previously while rest were playing for the first time at this level,” added Janhavi.
Boys work hard to earn title
Kolhapur has always been tricky opponent and they kept Maharashtra on their toes before the latter managed to secure a one-point victory.
“In the finals our two players – Dilip Khandavi and Ramji Shinde got out early in the first inning and that’s where Kolhapur came hard on us,” explained Sachin Chavan coach of boys team.
Before finals boys had defeated all their opponents with ease.
In the first innings, boys managed to oust nine players from Kolhapur’s den while Kolhapur responded brilliantly as first they managed to oust Khandavi and Shinde quickly, followed by five more players.
Having a two-point lead in the second innings, Maharashtra got four more players out to get a total of 13 points on the board, while Kolhapur got out five Maharashtra players out (12 points), but in the end they fall short by one point.
After the game
Sandip Chavan, coach, Maharashtra girls: Few players got out early that’s why the game went so close, but I am happy that other players delivered when it mattered most.
Sachin Chavan, coach, Maharashtra boys : We had short players in the team, which made things a bit hard for us in the final otherwise we dominated the tournament completely
Road to finals
Girls
Prequarter-final: beat AP 16 - 6
Quarter final: beat Tamil Nadu 10 - 6
Semifinal: beat Delhi 10 - 8
Finals: beat Karnataka 9 - 7
Boys
Prequarter-final: beat Uttar Pradesh 19- 4
Quarter-final beat Delhi 15-7
Semifinal: beat Karnataka 9-6
Final: beat Kolhapur 13 -12
