Telugu Yoddhas, the GMR Group-owned team, saw their winning momentum halt at the hands of hosts Odisha Juggernauts, who claimed a 35-27 win in their Ultimate Kho Kho Season 2 matchup at the Jawaharlal Nehru Indoor Stadium, Cuttack, on Sunday.
Spending 2:51 minutes on the mat, Avdhut Patil of Telugu Yoddhas was adjudged with the Best Defender of the Match award, earning three Dream Run points in the final Turn of the game. Rahul Mandal, Pratika Waikar, Aditya Ganpule, Dhruv and Sourabh Adavkar contributed six, four, four and four points for the Yoddhas.
Telugu Yoddhas will play their last league game against Gujarat Giants on January 8, 2024 (Monday). The game will be telecast LIVE and exclusively on the Sony Sports Network and can be streamed LIVE on the SonyLIV platform from 7:30 PM onwards.
Winning the toss, Telugu Yoddhas decided to attack first in Turn 1 of the game. Sourabh Adavkar opened the scorecard for the Yoddhas when he eliminated Dilip Khandavi through a running touch. However, Odisha’s defenders showcased a better game and earned three crucial points with Dream Runs, as Yoddhas’ attackers could not prevent them from earning points by running past them. This resulted in Yoddhas having a seven-point lead by the end of Turn 1, with the scorecard reading 10-3 in favour of the Yoddhas. Dhruv scored four points for Yoddhas in this Turn.
Turn 2 kicked off with the Yoddhas taking the mat as the defensive side, but the defenders couldn’t withstand their opponents. The attackers of the host outplayed the Yoddhas and earned points quickly, helping them overcome the lead and ending Turn 2 in their favour with a 23-10 score by the halfway mark of the game. The Yoddhas couldn’t earn a Dream Run point from this Turn.
The second innings began with Turn 3, and Telugu Yoddhas overcame this 13-point deficit and consequently gave their opponents a fighting target. Despite a better-attacking performance from Turn 1, Telugu Yoddhas fell short by just a single point in overcoming the lead, even after scoring 14 points in the Turn, because the Juggernauts managed to secure two additional Dream Run points. Turn 3 concluded with the scorecard reading 24-25 in favour of Odisha. Rahul Mandal and Aditya Ganpule of Telugu Yoddhas each earned six points in this Turn.
The final Turn of the game saw some intense action from the Yoddhas’ defenders as they valiantly exhibited a warrior spirit when they refused to give up easily. Avdhut Patil executed a meticulous run, successfully eluding his attackers for 4 minutes and 30 seconds, earning three crucial Dream Run points for his side before being eliminated.
However, the Yoddhas’ efforts came too late to reverse the outcome, as accumulating maximum points while defending proves more challenging than earning quick points while attacking. Despite restricting the hosts to just 10 points, Telugu Yoddhas ultimately went down to Odisha Juggernauts at the end with a score of 27-35.
