Six players to compete in first ever Kho Kho World Cup
Six Berkshire and Buckinghamshire players are set to compete in the first Kho Kho World Cup.
The inaugural tournament is due to take place at the Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium in Delhi, India, from January 13 to January 19.
The England team will include players from Slough, Reading, and Amersham.
Fielding both a men's and a women's team, each squad will comprise 15 athletes.
The players, five girls and one boy, were selected after trials in November 2024 from Kho Kho teams and have honed their skills over the years in local clubs, regional, and national competitions.
The selected players are Aishwarya Apte, Anushree Kaluskar, Navya Shandil from Amersham; Jaanki Mistry, Bharat Prasanna Kumar from Slough; and Maya Mepa from Reading.
The England squads, with players from across the country, have been training for two months, including a three-day boot camp between Christmas and New Year, gearing up for the competition.
The men's team has been drawn into a group with Australia, Kenya, Malaysia, and Germany, while the women's team will face Uganda, Netherlands, Kenya, Germany, and Australia.
The group stage winners will advance to the final stages.
Kho Kho, a team-based sport originating in India, involves two teams where the objective is to chase and tag opponents while avoiding being tagged.
The sport combines speed, strategy, and agility, and has grown in popularity in England.
The Kho Kho Federation of England, established in 2013 by Brij Haldania, has been instrumental in promoting the sport in the UK, laying the groundwork for Team England to compete internationally.
The first Kho Kho World Cup is already garnering attention, with Bollywood stars like Amitabh Bachchan, Salman Khan, and Ananya Panday acting as ambassadors, boosting the sport's profile and inspiring a global audience.
The tournament will be broadcast on Disney Hotstar, Star Sports, and Doordarshan channels.
The Kho Kho World Cup is expected to unite nations through a shared passion for the sport.
Team England is prepared to make its mark in this thrilling competition, representing the nation on a global stage.
The players have been selected from the heart of local communities, embodying the spirit and growth of Kho Kho in England.
Their journey from local clubs to an international stage reflects the sport's development and the opportunities it now presents for players across the country.
The competition promises to be a historic event, not just for the players, but for the sport's followers in England and worldwide.
