The world has witnessed a new dawn in the sporting sphere as India hosted the first-ever edition of the Kho Kho World Cup, simultaneously in men’s and women’s categories. Kho Kho is a sport that has originated in ancient India and holds significant historical value as it is believed to have been played since at least the fourth century B.C. The mascots of the tournament were two gazelles named Tara and Tejas. Unveiled on 3rd January, dressed in blue and orange sporting attire, they symbolized a combination of speed, agility, and teamwork.
The inaugural edition of the Kho Kho World Cup took place from 13th to 19th January at the Indira Gandhi Arena, New Delhi. A total of 23 countries participated in this tournament – 20 international men’s teams and 19 international women’s teams.
The fifteen men who represented India, coached by Ashwani Kumar Sharma and led by Pratik Waikar of Maharashtra, were Ramji Kashyap, Aditya Ganpule, Sachin Bhargo, Suman Barman, Suyash Gargate, Mehul, Gowtham M. K., Rokeson Khuman, Nikhil B., Pabani Sabar, Akash Baliyan, Siva Reddy, Subramani and Aniket Pote.
Whereas, the women’s team coached by Sumit Bhatia and led by Pune’s Priyanka Ingle included Vaishnavi Pawar, B. Chaithra, Subhashree Singh, Neeta Devi, Nasreen Sheikh, Nazia, Magai Majhi, Aswani Shinde, Reshma Rathod, Nirmala Bhati, Opinar Bhilar, Anshu, Meenu and Monika.
The tagline of this tournament – “The World Goes Kho”, beautifully expressed the global reach and enthusiasm of the tournament. The tournament has been played in the fast format. In the group stage, the Indian men’s team (Group A) defeated Nepal, Brazil, Peru and Bhutan by the score lines of 42-37, 64-34, 70-38 and 71-34 respectively. The Indian women’s team (Group A) was even fiercer, as they scored 100 or more points consecutively in all of their group stage matches. They thrashed South Korea, Iran and Malaysia by the score lines of 175-18, 100-16 and 100-20 respectively.
In the knockouts, the Indian men’s team beat Sri Lanka (100-40) and South Africa (62-42) and the women’s team beat Bangladesh (109-16) and South Africa (66-16) to reach the finals. Both teams faced Nepal in the finals and defeated them by 54-36 (men’s team) and 78-40 (women’s team) to win the championship and create history.
The sport, which is usually described as ‘Mati Ka Khel’, witnessed the start of a new era as both the Indian teams remained unbeaten throughout the whole tournament and portrayed unprecedented dominance to become the champions. But, most of the players had to struggle hard to get today’s fame and recognition.
Despite being an old game, Kho Kho lost its popularity due to the globalization and modernization of Indian society. Now, only the children of India’s rural areas play this sport. So, it’s hard to make a living by playing this game. Ramji Kashyap, a key player of India, especially in the knockouts, has recently shared how he spent his entire childhood by collecting and stacking scraps with his other family members. The twenty two year old boy from Maharashtra’s Solapur district stated that it was really very difficult to earn a living as well as to make time to play Kho Kho. But, even through all the hardships of life, this sport is the reason for where he stands today. After performing well in the domestic league, Ultimate Kho Kho, he has finally got that exposure and financial stability and is now motivated to work harder than ever.
Another prominent figure of the men’s team, Suman Barman, also comes from such a background, where he even struggled to make ends meet and buy shoes. Coming from a small village of Hooghly, West Bengal, his father, who works as a laborer, couldn’t afford to let his son play Cricket. But he always supported him to play any kind of sport. His parents couldn’t even watch their son playing live at the stadium in New Delhi, as they went to other states in search of work. Amidst all the happiness and celebrations, questions that are still lingering on their mind are, what about the future? Will they ever be able to secure a strong roof above their head?
B. Chaithra, one of the top performers of the women’s team, started playing Kho Kho in 2011, when she saw her seniors play this sport. Her social studies and mathematics teacher, Sir Manjunath, spotted real talent in her and advised her to take it as her profession. At first, her parents faced much criticism from the society for letting their daughter travel to various places across the country to play and not getting her married at an early age. But her parents, a rice and sugarcane farmer and a homemaker, didn’t pay attention to such opinions and supported their daughter wholeheartedly so that she could fly in the open sky- full of opportunities.
Along with financial deficiency, some female players also had to fight with socio-cultural norms. Belonging to the Marwadi culture, Nirmala Bhati shared that wearing shorts while playing Kho Kho was a taboo, as every woman in her family was habituated to staying behind the ‘ghoonghat’. She even sarcastically said that if she had lost herself among culture and tradition, then her career must have been “cut short.”
The most experienced player of the team, Nasreen Sheikh, also had a similar past where she had to combat with hurdles that were forced upon her by society and religion. The former captain and Arjuna awardee stated that these challenges faced by the girls, coming from marginalized communities or minorities, make it much harder for them to stay on this field and concentrate on their game, blocking out all the outside noises.
Though both the Indian teams were likely to win the championship, given that there was simply no one who had the power that this game required to beat the opponents. Some games were close, but most of them were truly a one-sided portrayal of dominance by the home team. But nothing comes easy, as they say.
Even in this frosty winter in New Delhi, B. Chaithra revealed that the squad used to wake up early every morning and come to practice at the stadium. Now it has clearly shown that hard work always produces results. The combined amount of dedication, enthusiasm and passion both the teams poured in throughout the tournament led to the result they achieved.
The Olympics in 1936, featured Kho Kho as a demonstration sport in Berlin, Germany, along with other sports like Kabaddi and Mallakhamba. It was the first international appearance for Kho Kho, where it was introduced to a global audience. A team from India participated in the Kho Kho demonstration event to highlight their skills and promote the sport worldwide. Though Kho Kho’s 1936 Olympic appearance was limited to a single demonstration event, as it was not a medal sport and didn’t receive widespread attention, it now shows all the promise to gain popularity once again and only get bigger and better from here.
