Finance
Odisha Juggernauts won the first Ultimate Kho Kho League, and Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik congratulated them.
The Chief Minister also announced a Rs1 crore prize money for the winning team.
Suraj Lande’s spectacular sky dive helped Odisha Juggernauts win the inaugural edition of Ultimate Kho Kho on Sunday, defeating Telugu Yoddhas 46-45 in a thrilling final at the Shree Shiv Chhatrapati Sports Complex in Pune.
After Telugu Yoddhas scored 21 points in the third quarter to take a 41-27 lead, Sachin Bhargo scored two crucial points for his team and held off the Odisha Juggernauts for 2.44 minutes. Telugu Yoddhas were leading 45-43 with 1.24 minutes remaining when he was dismissed.
Lande, who tested Telugu Yoddhas’ defense with a 3.03-minute stay in the third turn, had different plans for Odisha Juggernauts. With only 14 seconds left in the game, he caught Avdhut Patil with a spectacular sky dive, which not only added three winning points for Odisha Juggernauts but also helped them win the title.
For the winning team, Lande scored nine points in attack, while Telugu Yoddhas’ Rohan Shingade scored eleven.
Earlier, to kick off the blockbuster final, popular Bollywood singer Mohit Chauhan performed the national anthem in style. The Lions Crew, which won bronze in the 2021 World Hip Hop Dance Championship, also put on a spectacular performance to commemorate India’s first franchise-based Kho-Kho league.
Odisha Juggernauts chose to defend as Vishal displayed brilliant skills to challenge Telugu Yoddhas, the league’s best attacking side. He defended for four minutes and 23 seconds to earn eight bonus points for Odisha Juggernauts, and skipper Dipesh More and Dilip Khandavi added two more points with their unbeaten stay of 2.37 minutes.
Odisha Juggernauts held Telugu Yoddhas to a 10-10 tie in the first turn thanks to an outstanding defensive performance.
Telugu Yoddhas, the first team in Ultimate Kho Kho to reach 100 defensive points, responded well after switching positions, not only holding Odisha Juggernauts to 13 points but also adding eight points thanks to Adarsh Mohite’s 4.12-minute defense. Odisha Juggernaut, on the other hand, kept themselves ahead with a narrow 23-20 lead at the end of the nail-biting first innings.
The champion Odisha Juggernauts received a whopping INR 1 crore in prize money as well as the coveted trophy, while the second-placed Telugu Yoddhas received INR 50 lakh.
Source:NRO
