2nd Direct Sports Venture: After Adani & GMR, Odisha Enters Ultimate Kho Kho League

Bhubaneswar: The Odisha government has acquired ownership of a team for the inaugural edition of the Ultimate Kho Kho (UKK) league, set to kick off in 2022.

It will be the second direct sports venture for the government, which also owned a team – Kalinga Lancers – in the Hockey India League in 2013.

It is worth mentioning here that Odisha had won silver medals in both boys and girls categories in Kho Kho during the recently Khelo India Youth Games.

“Kho Kho is very popular in many parts of Odisha. In the recent Khelo India Youth Games, our boys and girls played well and won the silver medals. Since it’s a traditional game, we have huge scope to develop it further in the state. Therefore, we have decided to participate in the Kho Kho league. This is part of our Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik’s vision for sports in Odisha, ”Minister for Sports and Youth Services, Tusharkanti Behera, said in a statement.

The Odisha Sports Development and Promotion Company (OSDPC) -owned team will be the fifth franchise in the league. The UKK welcomed Capri Global and KLO Sports as the owners of Rajasthan and Chennai teams respectively last week. It had earlier announced the association of corporate giants Adani Group and GMR Group as the owners of Gujarat and Telangana franchises.