NEW DELHI: The ancient game of kho kho is enjoying a resurgence in India, with organizers of the first international tournament hoping their efforts will secure the sport’s place in the Olympics.
Kho kho, a catch-me-if-you-can tag sport, has been played for more than 2,000 years across southern Asia but only saw its rules formalized in the early 20th century.
It was played as a demonstration sport at the 1936 Olympics in Berlin but did not gather enough support to be included in the Summer Games and since then has been largely eclipsed by India’s ferocious love of cricket.
Nearly a century later, enthusiasts have sought to raise its profile with the inaugural Kho Kho World Cup featuring teams from 23 nations competing in India’s capital New Delhi.
The tournament’s opening ceremony saw a gala of song, dance and an Olympic-style team parade, reflecting the aspirations of organizers and athletes to take the sport global.
“My elder sister played the sport, but was not able to pursue her dreams,” Indian women’s team player Nasreen Shaikh, 26, told AFP.
“We have crossed the first barrier of playing in a World Cup. The next big step would be an entry in the Olympics.”
Kho kho is traditionally played outside on a rectangular court, divided in two by a line that connects two poles at either end of the field.
Teams switch between attack and defense, with the former chasing and tagging defending players around the field.
Only one player can give chase at a time and attacking players can only move in one direction around the court, forcing them to tag in team-mates crouched on the center line to take over pursuit.
The match is won by whichever team can gain the most points, primarily by tagging defenders faster than the opposing team.
The franchise-based Ultimate Kho Kho League, founded in 2022, brought the sport off grassy fields and onto indoor mats, also boosting its profile with a television audience.
Since then the league has become the third most-watched non-cricket sports tournament in the world’s most populous country after the Pro Kabaddi League — another ancient Indian tag sport — and the Indian Super League football competition.
“The turning point was when it transitioned from mud to mat. It made it into a global game,” Kho Kho Federation of India president Sudhanshu Mittal told AFP.
“Today we are in 55 countries... Native players in countries like Germany, Brazil, and Kenya are embracing the game because of its speed, agility and minimal equipment required.”
Mittal said he expected the sport to gain a foothold in dozens more countries by the end of the year, giving it a strong claim to be featured in the Olympics in the coming decade.
That would coincide with India’s audacious bid to host the 2036 Games in the city of Ahmedabad, 100 years after kho kho last appeared at the Olympics.
The United States, England and Australia were among the nations that competed in this month’s World Cup in New Delhi, with expatriate Indians heavily represented after taking the game to foreign shores.
But Pakistan is a glaring omission from the competition despite the sport being popular there — a reflection of the deep animosity between the nuclear-armed archrivals.
World Cup organizers refused to comment on the absence, which failed to dim the sense of optimism at the competition that the sport is destined to thrive.
“There has been a sea change in the sport,” Indian men’s team captain Pratik Waikar, 32, told AFP.
“Cricket has a rich history and they developed it well by going live on TV, and now our sport has also gone live,” he said. “In the next five years it will be on another level.”

PARIS: Paris Saint-Germain produced a stunning second-half fightback as they recovered from two goals down to beat Manchester City 4-2 in a Champions League thriller on Wednesday, a result which leaves Pep Guardiola’s side still at risk of an early exit.
All the goals came in the second half on a wet night at the Parc des Princes, with Jack Grealish and Erling Haaland scoring to put City firmly in control.
However, Ousmane Dembele pulled one back and Bradley Barcola brought PSG level by the hour mark, before Joao Neves headed the French champions in front and Goncalo Ramos wrapped up the win at the death after a long VAR check.
Both of these powerful clubs came into their penultimate game in the league phase in Paris in trouble, with 24th-placed City occupying the last qualifying spot in the 36-team standings on eight points, and PSG one point behind them in 26th.
City knew a win here would probably guarantee them a spot in next month’s play-offs while landing a damaging blow to PSG, semifinalists last season.
Instead it is PSG who move to 10 points, a tally which may now be enough to progress, while Guardiola’s team drop out of the qualifying spots with just one game to come.
However, a win at home to Club Brugge next Wednesday should suffice as it would take them above the Belgian side in the standings.
This match saw City coach Guardiola, who led his side to Champions League glory in 2023, pit his wits against PSG’s Luis Enrique, his close friend and former team-mate at Barcelona.
The Premier League champions were seeking to continue a recent revival which had seen them win four and draw one of their last five matches after a run of one victory in 13 at the end of 2024.
City played with Matheus Nunes at right-back up against Bradley Barcola, the PSG left-winger who has found form again at the right time following the signing of Khvicha Kvaratskhelia from Napoli to threaten his position in the team.
Ineligible for this game, the Georgian winger was in the stands along with City’s injured Ballon d’Or winner Rodri, as well as the likes of UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin and French NBA star Victor Wembanyama.
They saw PSG, sporting a brand new fourth kit, enjoy most of the possession and chances in the first half without being able to capitalize.
That has been a familiar failing for them in this season’s Champions League, in which they had already lost to Arsenal, Atletico Madrid and Bayern Munich.
However, they were especially unlucky to see an Achraf Hakimi goal disallowed on the stroke of half-time for a tight offside decision against Nuno Mendes in the build-up.
Everything changed after the restart, though, as PSG sent on Dembele, and City made a double substitution including the introduction of Grealish for Savinho on the left wing.
Within five minutes Grealish had scored, lashing in after a Bernardo Silva shot had been parried by Gianluigi Donnarumma.
And the stadium was silenced as the visitors — who had won four of their last five meetings with PSG — scored again.
Nunes drove forward and found Grealish, whose cutback was diverted by the hapless Neves into the path of Haaland, leaving the Norwegian with a tap-in for his 23rd goal this season.
PSG were stunned, but their response was stunning, especially for a team that has struggled so badly to score goals in the competition this season.
They got one back on 56 minutes, Barcola powering forward and setting up Dembele to sweep a shot past Ederson.
The equalizer arrived shortly after and this time Barcola was the scorer, turning in the rebound after Desire Doue’s shot hit the bar.
All the momentum was with the home side, and Dembele struck the bar before they went ahead on 78 minutes, the diminutive Neves finding himself completely free of any defender to head in Vitinha’s free-kick at the back post.
The scoring was wrapped up in injury time when substitute Ramos netted with the last kick of the game, the celebrations being put on hold until a lengthy VAR check was completed.