Kho kho in India

An image of the chasing team's players sitting in the central lane of the field.

Kho kho is a popular traditional Indian game that is a variation of tag.[1] Within India, it is played between states in the National Games of India and between franchise teams in the Ultimate Kho Kho league, which has the backing of the Kho Kho Federation of India.[2][3] At the international level, India plays kho kho in the South Asian Games.[4]

History

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Kho kho has been played for thousands of years within India, having been originally played by players on chariots (which were called raths) and been known as rathera. The game's rules were standardised in 1914, and it was demonstrated at the 1936 Summer Olympics. It was first introduced to the South Asian Games in the 2016 edition.[4] In 2022, an Indian franchise league known as Ultimate Kho Kho (UKK) began, in which several rules of kho kho are modified.[3]

India's performance in international competitions

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Men's team

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South Asian Games

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Year Winner Runner-up 3rd Place
2016

Details

IndiaIndia
Bangladesh

Nepal
2019

Details[5]

IndiaIndia
Bangladesh

Nepal

Women's team

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South Asian Games

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Year Winner Runner-up 3rd Place
2016

Details

IndiaIndia
Bangladesh

Nepal
2019

Details[5]

IndiaIndia
Nepal

Bangladesh

Federation

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The Kho Kho Federation of India (KKFI) administers kho kho within India.

List of National Sports award recipients in Kho Kho, showing the year, award, and gender

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Year Recipient Award Gender
1970 Sudhir B. Parab Arjuna Award Male
1971 Achala Suberao Devra Arjuna Award Male
1973 Bhavna H. Parikh Arjuna Award Female
1974 N. C. Sarolkar Arjuna Award Female
1975 Shreerang J. Inamdar Arjuna Award Male
1975 Usha Vasant Nagarkar Arjuna Award Female
1976 S. R. Dharwadkar Arjuna Award Male
1981 Sushma Sarolkar Arjuna Award Female
1981 H. M. Takalkar Arjuna Award Male
1983 Veena Narayan Parab Arjuna Award Female
1984 S. Prakash Arjuna Award Male
1985 S. B. Kulkarni Arjuna Award Female
1998 Shobha Narayan Arjuna Award Female
2020 Kale Sarika Sudhakar Arjuna Award Female
2000 Gopal Purushottam Phadke Dronacharya Award Male

References

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  1. ^ "Kho-kho | Indian sport | Britannica". www.britannica.com. Retrieved 2023-03-15.
  2. ^ History of National Games: India’s homespun Olympics! Olympics.com
  3. ^ a b Imtiaz, Md (2019-08-08). "Ultimate Kho Kho league: The age-old sport set for an IPL-style revamp". thebridge.in. Retrieved 2023-03-15.
  4. ^ a b "Kho Kho, a kabaddi-like sport linked with Indian epic Mahabharata - know all about it" Olympics.com
  5. ^ a b "South Asian Games 2019: India bag two golds in kho-kho". Zee News. Retrieved 2023-03-15.

See also

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References

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