Hyderabad: Telangana franchise Kakatiya Knights capped off a memorable home round-robin campaign with a thumping 6-0 win over Mighty Marathas in the Archery Premier League Season-2 here on Saturday.
Both teams were already assured of a place in the top two coming into the match, which meant this was just a dress rehearsal for their clash in the first qualifier on Sunday. But the Knights ensured they will go into that match high on confidence.
For Knights, their lead compound archers Nico Wiener and Jyothi Surekha Vennam were flawless during the match, shooting 60 out of 60 despite gusty conditions at the People’s Plaza on Necklace Road. Marathas, who opted to rest their recurve star Dhiraj Bommadevara at the start, never quite found their rhythm and registered sub-70 scores in the first two sets. They managed to improve in the third set to score 74 as Dhiraj and Alejandra Valencia came on, but Knights hit a superb 78 and brought out the celebrations. Knights had also rested their in-form recurve star Neeraj Chauhan.
On Sunday, action will begin with a rematch between Marathas and Knights in a contest that will decide the first finalist of the season. The loser of that match will shoot in the second contest against Prithviraaj Yodhas, who defeated Chero Archers in Eliminator-1.
Then, to conclude the exciting season, it’ll be time for the grand finale. With their chances of qualifying for playoffs coming down to the wire, Yodhas first beat defending champions Rajputana Royals and then defeated Cheros 5-1.
The Results
Kakatiya Knights bt Mighty Marathas 6-0 (77-69, 72-64, 78-74); Chero Archers bt Chola Chiefs 4-4 (70-74, 73-68, 74-69, 73-76) — Chero won the shootoff 1-0; Pritvhiraaj Yodhas bt Rajputana Royals 6-0 (76-73, 74-72, 78-73); Eliminator-1: Pritvhiraaj Yodhas bt Chero Archers 5-1 (75-75, 77-74, 79-75).
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: deccanchronicle.com
