Kho Kho World Cup and hopes to make a game global
The first World Cup in Delhi dominated by India showed other nations will need to build on their enthusiasm for the game
New Delhi: Pratik Waikar was elated and relieved. Captaining India to victory in the first Kho Kho World Cup at home brought happiness. And the tournament being brought into limelight beyond its humble environs was cause for assurance that the home-bred sport had a brighter future.
Waikar is upbeat that kho kho will grow and with it impact his career, having taken up a sport with limited scope. The sentiment also found an echo within the victorious Indian women’s team.
Going more than three decades back, kabaddi too was an indigenous game played on mud grounds that took steps to grow internationally, taking its place in the Asian Games starting with the 1990 Beijing edition. It grew to such an extent in Asia that India were dethroned as gold medallists in men’s and women’s sections by Iran at the 2018 Jakarta Asiad.
A second edition of the Kho Kho World Cup in Birmingham in 2027 has already been announced, but the Delhi edition showed the game, now moved indoors and many new elements added to enhance viewership potential, still needs other countries to raise their standard. That will also show the sport is expanding.
It is no surprise that India and Nepal reached the final in both the men’s and women’s tournaments. It reflected the game’s South Asian roots and pointed that, if embraced, European and African teams too can grow, and in turn give kho kho a truly international look.
Many international teams are taking baby steps in this direction. For instance, the United States Kho Kho Association was formed in 2022. It is the case with most of the 23 countries that participated in the World Cup this month.
The US men’s team captain Evan Couchot believes it was vital to represent his country in the first edition of an exciting, new sport. “In our country, we have to spread the news about it pretty widely and get kids interested in competing,” he told HT.
“The challenge is spreading the word, more so because US is so big. The growth is expected to be slow in the beginning, but we are going to do everything we can to speed it up.”
Most countries like the US and Brazil decided to give it a shot after being drawn to the fast-paced, low-investment kho kho, which has minimal equipment and infrastructure demands.
Brazil men’s team coach Laura Doering said: “It’s important to promote the game further because everyone knows about tennis, soccer in our country, but kho kho does not require equipment so you can play it anywhere, and that is a big advantage.”
According to Doering, to make kho kho more adaptable globally, the rules can be more dynamic for other countries initially.
Ghana captain Timothy Kojo Aamedeka heard about kho kho first only in 2022 and the team started playing and training three months before the World Cup.
“I think our videos on social media will also play a role in getting locals back home interested, but it won’t do enough. More countries need to be taught more about the game for it to get a global push,” he said.
Poland women’s captain Dagmara Skirzynska is optimistic after the curiosity the World Cup raised back home, but believes kho kho will have to be introduced in schools in her country for it to grow.
India coach Sumit Bhatia believes that new rules can add to kho kho’s excitement. “For instance, there is the Wazir (only player who can turn in both directions) rule in the World Cup. We can modify it further and include dives that also featured in Ultimate Kho Kho tournament.
“There is the sky dive (touching out an opponent while air borne) which fetches you a bonus point, the pole dive (using the pole to attack) that gives more points, and the all-out rule if we get all four batches out.”
The Olympics is on the International Kho Kho Federation’s ambitious agenda. The World Cup has piqued the interest of other nations to develop it at grassroot level, train coaches and create more awareness, but it is a long road ahead.
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