Ultimate Kho Kho: Odisha Juggernauts lift inaugural title

Telugu Yoddhas become the first runners-up of the competition.

Putting up a valiant fight, Telugu Yoddhas – GMR owned Kho Kho franchise, had to accept defeat by a solitary point to Odisha Juggernauts to finish as the first-ever Runners Up of the inaugural season of the Ultimate Kho Kho league. A game that started on a slow note slowly took an exciting turn by the end of the first innings. Today’s match was a true testimony of skill, talent and strategies as both Telugu Yoddhas and Odisha Juggernauts left no stones unturned in their efforts to get their name etched as the first ever winners of the Ultimate Kho Kho League. Telugu Yoddhas having led most of the game though by a slender margin, held on to their lead fighting like true warriors till the final minute of the game, in the final few seconds, Odisha Juggernauts trailing by 2-points changed the game by earning 3 points to become the Champions of the Ultimate Kho Kho League.  Telugu Yoddhas, Arun Gunki was adjudged the Best Attacker of the game while Odisha Juggernauts Dilip Khandvi & Vishal were given the Best Defender & Ultimate Kho of the match award. Deepak Madhav of Telugu Yoddhas was awarded the best Defender of the Tournament.

Premier title winners

Speaking after the game Sumit Bhatia, Head Coach, Telugu Yoddhas said, “It is heartbreaking, but the boys fought like warriors, and had it not been for that one last touch in the final few seconds we would have seen a different result. In all, it was one of the most entertaining games of the league so far and I would like to congratulate Odisha Juggernauts for becoming the first ever Champions of Ultimate Kho Kho League.”

Telugu Yoddhas lost the toss and were put to Attack by Odisha Juggernauts. Odisha Juggernauts put Telugu Yoddhas under pressure right from the start as they completely ruled the mat earning 10 crucial Dream Run points in Turn 1. For Telugu Yoddhas, Rohan Shinghade with his two Sky Dives while Pratik Waikar with Running Touches ensured that Turn 1 came to an end with both the teams evenly placed at 10 points each.

Turn 2 started with Telugu Yoddhas under pressure, who did not experience such a low-scoring Turn 1 while on the attack this season so far. Odisha Juggernauts looked promising in the start wiping out two of Telugu Yoddhas defenders in the first 2 minutes. However, captain Pratik Waikar thereafter stood tall to his reputation earning the first 2 Dream Run points in the turn. Telugu Yoddhas thereafter made a strong comeback through 8 Dream Run points through the batch of Adarsh Mohite, Rohan Shinghade & Arun Gunki.  While Odisha Juggernauts in the attack could only earn 13 points, It was Telugu Yoddhas who sent a clear message that the finals were far from over earning 10 crucial Dream Run points. The turn came to an end with the score line reading 20-23 to the favour of Odisha Juggernauts.

Telugu Yoddhas still gave a fight

Telugu Yoddhas came back full throttle in Turn 3 of the Finals of the Inaugural Season of Ultimate Kho Kho League. Rohan Shinghade and Sachin Bhargo starred in this turn with support from other attackers to add 21 crucial points to their score line, while giving away just 4 Dream Run points. Telugu Yoddhas with their strategy in Turn 3 stunned Odisha Juggernauts, earning points through 3-pointers thus ending the penultimate round of the match with a 14-point lead as the score line read 41-27.

With a target of 15 points to chase, Odisha Juggernauts did not expect the final turn to have such a close finish. While Odisha Juggernauts tried hard to take the lead, Telugu Yoddhas came back strong with 4 Dream Run points. For every moment where Odisha Juggernauts tried leaping forward, Telugu Yoddhas defenders fought like true warriors and made the chase harder. With one minute and 24 seconds to go Odisha Juggernauts needed 3 points to take a lead and to the credit of Telugu Yoddhas defenders those winning points only came to Odisha Juggernauts in the final seconds of the game. The turn and the game finally came to an end with Telugu Yoddhas becoming the first ever Runners Up of the Ultimate Kho Kho League losing the game 45-46 to Odisha Juggernauts.