Telugu Yoddhas, the GMR Group-owned franchise, had to settle for the fourth position as they went down 24-32 to Odisha Juggernauts in the third-place match of Ultimate Kho-Kho Season 2.
In their final game of the season two campaign, both finalists of the inaugural season, Telugu Yoddhas and Odisha Juggernauts, took the mat before the finals for another high-octane clash of the night. Rahul Mandal scored the highest for the Yoddhas, earning six points from the game, followed by Vaibhav Nippane and Arun Gunki, who earned four points each. The young sensation, Aditya Ganpule, scored three Dream Run points while defending his team.
Telugu Yoddhas won the toss and elected to attack in the first Turn 1 of the game. As usual, the in-form captain of Telugu Yoddhas drew first blood. However, the Yoddhas took more time than usual to eliminate the first batch of Odisha Juggernauts, as the latter earned three crucial points with the help of Dream Runs, narrowing the gap in the scorecard. The Yoddhas concluded Turn 1 slowly when the scorecard read 10-3 in their favour.
In Turn 2, Telugu Yoddhas took the mat as the defensive side and displayed a superb performance when their first batch spent almost five impressive minutes on the mat, earning them four much-needed points through Dream Runs. The defenders of the Yoddhas were brilliant on the mat in this Turn, restricting the hosts to making just ten points from the game. The Turn ended with a scorecard reading 14-13, favouring the Yoddhas at the halfway mark.
The Yoddhas entered Turn 3 intending to set a maximum target for their opponents. Starting slowly, the Yoddhas’ attackers couldn’t capitalize on the momentum they had gained from the last Turn. However, the Juggernauts’ attackers employed the same strategy and gameplay, preventing their opponents from earning maximum points while scoring three Dream Run points. The Turn ended with the score reading 24-16, favouring Telugu Yoddhas.
The final Turn of the game required exceptional performance from the Yoddhas’ defenders as they had the job of defending the target. However, Odisha took just twelve seconds to eliminate the first defender of the Yoddhas. Telugu’s first batch spent two minutes and 41 seconds on the mat before being eliminated, allowing Odisha to reach their target. After that, the hosts delivered their job of overcoming the lead and walked away with a victory with a scorecard reading 32-24 in the third-place game of Ultimate Kho-Kho Season 2.
