Odisha Juggernauts and Mumbai Khiladis secure their first wins in Ultimate Kho Kho

Pune, Aug 15: Odisha Juggernauts and Mumbai Khiladis opened their account in the inaugural edition of Ultimate Kho Kho by securing wins by a similar eight-point margin on the second day at the Shree Shiv Chhatrapati Sports Complex, Mahalunge, Pune, Maharashtra on Monday. While Odisha Juggernauts kickstarted their campaign with a thumping 51-43 win over Chennai Quick Guns, Mumbai Khiladis also earned a nail-biting eight-point victory against Rajasthan Warriors in their second league game by 51-43. Governor of Maharashtra Bhagat Singh Koshyari tossed the coin in the second match and witnessed the modern avatar of India’s homegrown sport.  Earlier, Indian Army’s renowned brass band of the Bombay Engineering Group played the national anthem to celebrate the 75th Independence Day in style on the second day of the Ultimate Kho Kho. In the second match of the day, Odisha Juggernauts started off well against Chennai Quick Guns with 20-2 lead after the first turn of the game. Chennai tried making a comeback by securing 19 points in the second turn however, Odisha once again took the charge of match and seal the game comfortably by scoring 27 points in the second innings.   Earlier, Mumbai Khiladis won the toss and chose to defend as captain Vijay Hajare alongside Rohan Kore and Avik Singha started the proceedings. Nikhil struck for Rajasthan as he captured Hajare in the first match of the game before the batch was out in the next half minute. Faizankha Pathan, from the third batch of Mumbai, showcased skilful defence to remain unbeaten but Rajasthan Warriors ended the first turn with 18-4 lead. The season 1 of the league will witness six franchises, Chennai Quick Guns, Gujarat Giants, Mumbai Khiladis, Odisha Juggernauts, Rajasthan Warriors and Telugu Yoddhas, battling it out for the title over a period of 22 days. The exciting action of Season  1 will be telecasted in five different languages on Sony Sports Network—SONY TEN 1 (English), SONY TEN 3 (Hindi & Marathi) SONY TEN 4 (Telugu & Tamil) as well as streamed live on SonyLIV. There will be two matches played each day with live coverage starting at 7:00 PM IST. In the Season 1, all the teams will play twice against each other twice during the league stage with Top-4 teams progressing into knockout stage, which will be played in playoffs format.