Kho Kho is an ancient game that originated from the Indian subcontinent. It was popular during the Mughal Dynasty in India and later spread to Southeast Asia, China, and Vietnam.
Kho Kho is played with two groups of players, who take turns throwing a leather ball up in the air using their hands and trying to hit it against their opponent’s head or chest. The object of the game is to keep hitting your opponent until you can throw him out of the ring, then capture him by hitting him twice more with your hand.
Kho Kho is an over 2,500 years old game that is played in Asia and Africa. More than two billion people are believed to have played kho kho since its invention.
It’s a game of strategy and skill which is played on a large open field with a hard round ball made of leather or animal hide called the ko-ko. This ancient game is known to be more demanding than football, basketball, and soccer – hence its popularity among high school students.
Rules of kho kho
The rules of kho kho are quite simple for the most part. Players should keep a ball in the middle of the court, and one player can hit it with their hand. Players have to stand within three steps of this ball and cannot move from that position.
The main objective of this sport is to get possession of a small wooden ball that has been put into play by striking it with one or two hands until it turns back into a flat disc from which then the players can pick it up again.
The rules of the game consist of four quarters, each lasting one-and-a-half hours, with a one-minute break between each quarter. The object is to get the ball through your opponent’s goal line.
A team can score only by kicking the ball over their opponent’s goalpost while they are on offense or by touching it with their body while they are on defense or offside position (outside their goal line). If any player falls down or touches anything on their side of the field other than either playing field – ground.
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The players then turn their back on each other – one player will have their back to the net, as shown in the photo below, while his or her opponents will have their backs to them. If a player isn’t facing his or her opponents by the 10th second, he or she is out.
The winner is then decided by points that are scored during play – 1 point for hitting the ball, 1 point for each player’s third step hit, 2 points when both players score at the net on a serve, and 3 points when more.
Terminology of kho kho
- Pole: The pole that players hold and use with both hands to whack away at their opponents.
- Chaser: The player who stands opposite the pole in the center. They try to push/block away opponents who come near them so they can score points
- Central Lane: This lane must not have any obstacles in its way. It’s the most important lane because this is where players score points
- Cross Lane: These lanes are on either side of the central lane.
- Early Getup: Before obtaining a Kho, the sitting chaser gets up.
- Late Kho: when the active chaser waits too long to give Kho to another.
- Changing The Direction: When an active chaser violates the rules by going in the incorrect direction.
- Minus Kho: The chased player cannot make the running player out until Kho is passed back to two teammates or touched by a pole, which is a breach of directional fault.
- Free Zone: The space around pole lines where the direction rule is broken and a runner can proceed in any direction.
- Square: The cutting of the middle lane and cross lane created a square-shaped area for the chasers to sit in.
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Best 3 kho kho players
India has always been a global powerhouse when it comes to Kho Kho. A number of Indian players have excelled at the sport and are now considered as top players in the world.
This list will take you through some of these super athletes, their achievements, and what they are up to these days.
1) Satish Rai – Satish Rai is the most successful Indian kho kho player. He won the World Cup in 1996, as well as multiple national titles.
Satish Rai is one of the most successful kho kho players in Indian history and at present, he’s considered to be one of the best kho kho players in Asia. He won the World Cup twice – first in 1996 and then again in 2004. He has also won numerous national titles, including those with both his clubs – Air India and Tamil Union.
2) Sarika Kale – Former Kuomintang star from India who has won various titles including Asian Games Gold Medal in 1998 and World Championships Silver Medal in 2003. She is currently playing for the Hong Kong National team and is also known as one of the best shooters in the game today.
Sarika is one of India’s most popular athletes and her most recent success has come in the form of gold medals in various international competitions. Sarika has also been ranked 10th on the world list for Kho Kho players for quite some time now.
3) Pankaj Malhotra: Pankaj Malhotra is a popular Kho Kho player from India and has won many tournaments including the World Championship.
Pankaj Malhotra has been a professional for more than two decades and has won over 15 international titles in Kho Kho. At the age of 50, he is still one of the best players in his country. He was most recently ranked number 2 in the world by the World Ranking Table as of 2019.
In 2018, Pankaj retired from international play after winning his 15th title at the age of fifty. He stated that he had achieved all that he wanted to achieve in his career and would now focus on giving back to his countrymen through coaching their youth team players or helping them with their gamesmanship skills.
