Indian men’s and women’s Kho Kho teams storm into the finals; aim for second consecutive gold at the 13th South Asian Games

India’s men’s and women’s kho kho team registered dominating wins over Sri Lankan teams in the semi-finals to enter their second consecutive finals at the 13th South Asian Games here in Kathmandu on Monday.

The men’s team, led by Maharashtra’s Balasahaeb Pokarde, put up an impressive performance in defence as well as in attack to win the match by an innings and 13 points with scores of 21-8, the women’s side displayed their superiority over Sri Lanka with the final score of 32-4 scoreline.

While Odisha’s Satyajit Sing chased down five points, his teammate Akshay Ganpule ran for more than three minutes to help India enter final. Meanwhile, Nasreen-led women’s team had an easy task during their semi-final encounter.

“We played really well today. We did not give the opposition any opportunity to get settled during our chase and we also managed to run well,” women’s team skipper Nasreen said after the match.

The men’s team will now face Bangladesh in the final while, the women’s side will defend their title against home team Nepal.