Maharashtra men’s and women’s teams reach Senior National Kho Kho Championship final

In the other men's semi-final, defending champions Railways defeated Odisha with a score of 25-17 to enter the final

Hyderabad: Defending champions Maharashtra and last year’s runners-up Odisha entered the women’s final, while Railways and Maharashtra reached the men’s final in the 58th Senior National Kho Kho Championship at Kazipet Railway Stadium in Hanamkonda on Wednesday.

In the closely contested men’s semi-final on Wednesday night, Maharashtra narrowly defeated Kolhapur with a score of 29-27.

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Indian team captain Pratik Rawal of the Maharashtra team scored six points with skydives and played for two crucial minutes, while Shubham Utekar scored eight points. For Kolhapur, Mazhar scored 8 points, and Rajyavardhan Patil played for 1.30 and 1.20 minutes in two turns.

In the other semi-final, defending champions Railways easily defeated Odisha with a score of 25-17 to enter the final. International player Ramji Kashyap of the Maharashtra team scored 6 points and played for 2.30 minutes, while Rahul Mandal scored 4 points and played for 2.14 minutes, leading Maharashtra to the final.

In the women’s semi-final, Maharashtra defeated Delhi 27-6. Indian captain Priyanka Ingle put up an all-round show for the winners. She played for 4.50 minutes and also scored two crucial points. Supporting her, Ashwini Shinde contributed with a timing of 2.10 minutes.

In the other semi-final, Odisha defeated the Airport Authority of India with a score difference of 27-19 to reach the final. For Odisha, Ranjita Bari scored 6 points and played for 1.40 minutes, playing a key role in the team’s victory. Archana Pradhan from Odisha played for 3.20 minutes.

Earlier, in the pre-quarterfinal, Andhra Pradesh shocked host Telangana 28-21 in the men’s pre-quarterfinal.

Telangana lost due to the defenders not performing as expected, 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. Kiran from the Andhra Pradesh team played a key role in the team’s victory with his all-round performance, played two minutes and 1.5 min. of timing along with four crucial points. Rammohan and Narasayya also performed well and contributed to the Andhra team’s victory.