By Ishita Malakar
In order to be recognised as an international sport, Kho Kho, whose root lies in the soils of India, first ever World Cup is all set to begin from January 14, 2025. The game will be represented by both men and women alike and will happen at the Indira Gandhi Stadium in New Delhi.
The event is being hosted by India with Kho Kho as the inaugural event. This championship will also be represented by 39 other nations and the very first time, such a sport will be portrayed on a global platform. As part of the first event, India will compete with Nepal wherein the opening ceremony will take place on January 13, 2025. For the women’s competition, they will be divided into four groups, with five teams in each individual group except the first group, that is Group A, which will be having four teams.
In total, there will 19 teams competing in this Kho Kho tournament. The game will begin in a round robin stage which will further move to knockout matches. While the group match will take place, every team will compete against the other team in its group. After this is being done, the two top winning teams will go ahead and play for the quarterfinals.
Here onwards, the game pattern will change and a knockout format will be followed. The winning teams from this game will further move to the semifinals and then onto the finals. Even one loss in this knockout stage will lead to their elimination.
In association with the Indian Olympic Association (IOA), and besides Kho Kho, other indigenous sports which were earlier represented on this forum were Kabaddi and Mallakhamb, both of which were demonstrated at the Berlin 1936 Olympics.
The countries represented as part of Group A in this tournament include India, South Korea, Malaysia and Iran. Group B will be represented by England, Australia, Kenya, Netherlands and Uganda. Group C has Nepal, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Germany. And finally, Group D will have countries like South Africa, New Zealand, Poland, Indonesia and Peru. The finals for this tournament will take place on 19 January 2025.