Odisha men’s and women’s teams put up a strong performance to reach the semifinals of the 58th Senior National Kho-Kho Championship at the Kazipet Railway Stadium in Hanamkonda on Wednesday.
Telangana and Andhra Pradesh teams disappointed the huge crowd by falling early. Telangana made an exit in the pre-quarters and Andhra were eliminated in the quarterfinals.
In the pre-quarterfinals, Andhra Pradesh shocked hosts Telangana 28-21. In what turned out to be thrilling encounter and which enthralled the packed stadium, Telangana lost due to the defenders not performing as expected. There was also a lack of coordination among the players, excessive fouls during chasing, and failed strategies.
Defenders G Sudheer and B Naresh each played two minutes, while T Nirikshan and N Rakesh scored four points each. Andhra Pradesh’s Kiran played a key role in the team’s victory with his all-round performance. He played for two minutes and scored four crucial points. Rammohan and Narasayya also performed well and contributed to the Andhra team’s victory.
In the men’s category, Railways, last year’s winner, won against Karnataka 23-15 in the quarterfinals. In the Railways team, Mahesh and Aditya played for 3.4 minutes each, while Rohan and Jagannath scored four points each. In another match, Odisha defeated their opponent with a score of 29-23 to reach the semifinals. The Kolhapur team won against Delhi with a score of 36-24. In the last quarterfinal, Andhra was defeated by last year’s runner-up Maharashtra 16-23. In the Andhra team, K Rammohan played for 1.28 minutes, while Kiran, Phani, and Veeranjaneyulu scored 4 points each.
In the semifinals, Railways will face Odisha, and Kolhapur will compete against Maharashtra.
In the women’s quarterfinals, defending champion Maharashtra defeated West Bengal 20-7, Delhi defeated Kolhapur 27-25, Airport Authority of India defeated Gujarat 24-15, and last year’s runner-up Odisha defeated Karnataka 24-20 to enter the semifinals.
In the semifinals, Maharashtra will face Delhi, and Odisha will compete against the Airport Authority of India.
