Playing with calm approach helped RF Naik Vidyalaya to defeat Shiv Bhakt Vidya Mandir 10-5 in the finals of the state women’s kho-kho tournament at Sanmitra Sangh, Kothrud on Tuesday.
The two teams from Thane district have faced each other eight times in the season. RF Naik Vidyalaya has got the better of their opponent in all the clashes.
“The kho-kho season starts from September and continues till May. The season is coming to an end and in most of the season’s final, we have faced the same opponent. It was the eighth final of the season and we have beaten them on all the occasion,” explains Priyanka Chavan, manager, RF Naik Vidyalaya.
For RF Naik Vidyalaya, things began on a slow note as their players were making few fouls during the first innings.
In the first five minutes RF Naik girls managed to out only one player from opponents team. In last four minutes of the first innings, the team got their momentum and they managed to out four players of Shiv Bhakt Vidya Mandir.
While running RF Naik came out with flawless performance as their three players ran for seven minutes. It gave them an advantage as they went into half time with a scoreline of 5-3.
{{/usCountry}}While running RF Naik came out with flawless performance as their three players ran for seven minutes. It gave them an advantage as they went into half time with a scoreline of 5-3.
{{/usCountry}}In the second innings, the things became tougher for Shiv Bhakt Vidya Mandir as their star player, Priyanka Bhopi was out in the first two minutes which added pressure on other players and it led to mini collapse as four other players got out quickly.
“Priyanka being an experienced player team is dependent on her. In the second innings she was not able to stay on the pitch for a long time which made things difficult for our team,” said Tejas Kadav, manager, Shiv Bhakt Vidya Mandir.
For RF Naik, the second innings was better than the first one as their only two players got out in nine minutes which helped them to score five points victory.
Know the game: Kho-Kho
* Four innings of 9 minutes each
* Team which wins toss decides to sit or run.
* In each innings, both teams get to sit and run.
* Besides haft-time of seven minutes, breaks between team changeovers is three minutes.
* Team with least players out at end wins.
Captain’s say:
Tejashree Kondhalkar, RF Naik Vidyalaya
“In the semi-final match our defence couldn’t perform that well but today we worked hard on it and it brought the result in our favour. Team’s performance kept on improving after every match.”
Minal Bhoir, Shiv Bhakt Vidya Mandir
“Few girls lack experience still we managed to reach the finals. We could have played better but unfortunately, we fell short. Overall the tournament was very good.”