Waikar pulls off a stunner

Maharashtra’s Pratik Waikar continued his spectacular show at the KKFI 2021 Super League Kho Kho Tournament as Pahadi Billas lifted the trophy with a convincing six points win in the thrilling final against Panthers in New Delhi on Monday.

In the summit clash played at the gleaming Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium here, leading from the front skipper Waikar dished out a solid allround performance and guided his side to 31-25 win. The 25-year-old all-rounder, who also played as a Wazir for the team and has been consistent throughout the tournament, once again proved his mettle as he defended for one minute and 50 seconds and then chased down 11 points for his team. He found good support from his teammates Railway’s Nilesh Patil and Kerala’s Mahesh M. While Mahesh spent 1 minute and 40 seconds on the mat in defence, Nilesh impressed in the chase with six points.

The championship was played as part of the KKFI and Ultimate Kho Kho (UKK)-organised first-ever High-Performance Evaluation and Scientific Assessment training camp. The winners and runners-up team in the men’s event received 2 lakh and 1.50 lakh prize money respectively while third and fourth ranked teams bagged 50 thousand each. The women teams received 30 thousand each.

West Bengal’s Subhasish Santra was key performer for the Panthers with his one minute 50 seconds in defence and eight points in the chase.

Three Maharashtra players picked the best achievement awards for their fine run in the tournament. Ramji Kashyap of Solapur was adjudged the Best Chaser and Thane’s Mahesh Shinde received the Best Runner Award with each of them receiving INR 50,000. While the Best Wazir of the Championship Award and INR 75,000 was won by Abhinandan Patil of Kolhapur and P Siva Reddy of Andhra Pradesh was adjudged the Best Pole Diver and INR 50,000. Madhya Pradesh’s Sachin Bhargo won INR 50,000 for posing the best skydives in the championship.