Odisha Juggernauts won the inaugural edition of Ultimate Kho Kho after defeating Telugu Yoddhas by a score of 46-45 in a thrilling championship game on Sunday at the Shree Shiv Chhatrapati Sports Complex in this city because to Suraj Lande’s spectacular skydive.
Telugu Yoddhas scored 21 points in the third quarter to extend their advantage to 41-27. Sachin Bhargo then scored two important points for his team and held off the Odisha Juggernauts for 2.44 minutes. Telugu Yoddhas were ahead 45-43 with just 1.24 minutes remaining in the game when he got ejected.
Lande, who put the Telugu Yoddhas’ defence to the test with his 3.03-minute stay in the third turn, had other ideas for the Odisha Juggernauts. He successfully caught Avdhut Patil with just 14 seconds left to play, adding three crucial points and assisting the Odisha Juggernauts in winning the match.
Rohan Shingade scored 11 points for Telugu Yoddhas, while Lande scored nine points in attack for the victorious team.
Mohit Chauhan, a well-known Bollywood singer, performed a stylish rendition of the national song earlier to open the exciting finale. The Lions Crew, who took third place in the 2021 World Hip Hop Dance Championship, also put up a stunning performance honouring India’s first franchise-based Kho-Kho league.
Odisha Juggernauts decided to play defence as Vishal shown excellent talents to fight Telugu Yoddhas, the league’s finest attacking team. He played defence in the first batch for four minutes and 23 seconds, earning the Odisha Juggernauts eight extra points. Then, the team’s captain Dipesh More and Dilip Khandavi added two more points during their unbeaten stay of 2.37 minutes.
Odisha Juggernauts held Telugu Yoddhas to a 10-10 tie in the opening turn with an outstanding defensive performance.
After exchanging places, Telugu Yoddhas, the first team in Ultimate Kho Kho to reach 100 defensive points, responded impressively. They not only held Odisha Juggernauts to 13 points, but they also added eight more with the help of Adarsh Mohite’s 4.12-minute defence. However, Odisha Juggernaut maintained their lead with a slim 23-20 advantage at the conclusion of the suspenseful first innings.
The winning Odisha Juggernauts received INR 1 crore in prize money in addition to the prized trophy, while Telugu Yoddhas, who finished in second place, received INR 50 lakh.
For finishing third, Gujarat Giants received INR 30 lakh in prize money.
Prasanta Patnaik