Odisha Juggernauts won the Ultimate Kho Kho 2022 championship by defeating Telugu Yoddhas in the final match of the inaugural season on Sunday, September 4. The match went down to the wire, and eventually, the Juggernauts emerged victorious by just one point.
The Odisha-based franchise had been one of the most consistent teams in the league round of the Ultimate Kho Kho 2022 tournament. They finished second in the points table and beat tabletoppers Gujarat Giants in Qualifier 1 to book a place in the final.
Meanwhile, the Telugu Yoddhas were a little inconsistent but picked up the momentum by registering some big wins in the final phase of the league stage. They finished third in the standings, then defeated Chennai Quick Guns in Eliminator and Gujarat Giants in Qualifier 2 to set up a clash with Odisha Juggernauts in the final.
In the final match, Odisha won the toss and elected to defend first. Odisha got off to a fantastic start as their first batch of defenders completed an eight-point dream run in the first turn itself.
Odisha scored two more points in the first turn and conceded only 10 points to their opponents as the scoreboard read 10-10.
In reply, the Telugu Yoddhas did the same thing in their defense, scoring 10 points, including one eight-point dream run, but Odisha ended the first half with a three-point lead thanks to their 13 attacking points.
Odisha Juggernauts scored 19 points in the final turn to win the Ultimate Kho Kho 2022 trophy
Telugu Yoddhas improved their performance in the second half and scored 21 attacking points. They conceded only four points to the Juggernauts in their second turn, leaving Odisha to score at least 15 points for a win.
Since Odisha conceded four points to Telugu in the final turn, their attackers had to score 19 points and they did just that to capture the inaugural Ultimate Kho Kho 2022 title.
