By Our Correspondent
CUTTACK/BHUBANESWAR: Defending champions Odisha Juggernauts returned to winning ways in the ongoing Ultimate Kho Kho Season 2 with a 31-28 victory over Mumbai Khiladis, while Telugu Yoddhas defeated Rajasthan Warriors 38-28 by a big margin at the Jawaharlal Nehru Indoor Stadium in Cuttack on Wednesday.
Odisha Juggernauts have now secured the top spot in the points table with eight points from three matches, while Telugu Yoddhas have claimed the second position with a total of six points.
Promoted by Amit Burman in collaboration with the Kho Kho Federation of India, Ultimate Kho Kho became a huge hit in the first season, emerging as India’s third-largest non-cricket league in terms of television viewership. It also became the first Indian sports league to secure Series A funding, courtesy of the UK-based BNP Group.
Chasing first, Mumbai Khiladis made a balanced start to the match as they did not give any dream run bonus points to the defending champions early on. However, they only managed to grab 14 points in the first turn as Odisha returned to the contest by claiming 14 points during the following turn.
Mumbai went into the second inning with a point advantage courtesy of a dream run bonus point in the second turn. They further won 12 points in the third turn and allowed Odisha to earn a dream run bonus point as well.
The last turn turned out to be in the favour of the defending champions as they attained 16 points with sublime attacking to register a remarkable victory. Earlier, Rahul Mandal proved to be the star of the match for Telugu Yoddhas with 10 points. Pratik Waikar and Aditya Ganpule also contributed to the team’s victory by staying on the mat for more than 3.95 minutes to earn dream run bonus points during the defence.
Rajasthan Warriors took a dream run bonus point early on in the first turn before Telugu Yoddhas fought back valiantly and claimed 18 points while chasing. The Yoddhas showcased the same determination when they switched to defence as they earned two dream run bonus points, allowing Rajasthan to grab only 12 points.
Telugu Yoddhas began the second inning on a positive note and took a significant lead after scoring 18 points in the third turn. Rajasthan earned a dream run bonus point, but they failed to surpass Telugu’s score in the last turn and only managed to secure 14 points. Rajasthan Warriors will now take on Chennai Quick Guns on Friday, while Telugu Yoddhas will go up against table-toppers Gujarat Giants.
The exciting action of Season 2 will be telecasted on Sony Sports Network’s channels and SonyLIV with live coverage of daily two matches starting at 7:30 PM IST.
