Ultimate Kho Kho (UKK) is an Indian franchise-based kho-kho league started in 2022.[1] It is hosted by the Kho Kho Federation of India.[2] The inaugural season had a viewership of 64 million, 41 million of which came from India,[2] making UKK the third-most viewed non-cricket sport tournament in India after the Pro Kabaddi League and the Indian Super League.[2]
| Most recent season or competition: 2023-24 Ultimate Kho Kho | |
 | |
| Sport | Kho Kho |
|---|---|
| Founded | 2022 |
| First season | 2022 |
| CEO | Tenzing Niyogi |
| No. of teams | 6 |
| Country | India |
| Most recent champion(s) | Gujarat Giants (2023–24) |
| Most titles | Odisha Juggernauts Gujarat Giants (1 each) |
| Official website | Website |
 2023-24 Ultimate Kho Kho | |
History
editSeveral changes were made to the standard rules of kho-kho in UKK in order to make the game more exciting and presentable on television.[3] Sony Pictures Network India signed a 5-year deal to broadcast UKK, and will invest ₹200 crore (US$24 million) into the league over the 5 years.[4]
There are plans to launch a women's version of UKK in a few years' time.[5][6] Future editions of UKK will expand to have eight to ten teams (potentially including a team from Northeast India),[7][8] with venues in multiple cities to be used, and some foreign players to be allowed to participate.[9]
Before the start of the second season, UKK became the first Indian sports league to secure private equity-based funding, receiving it from a UK-based group.[10]
Rules
editUKK uses a modified set of rules referred to by the International Kho Kho Federation as the "fast format", as opposed to the standard "test format".[11] The following modifications apply:[12][13][14]
- Only 7 players from the attacking (chasing) team are on the field.[15][16][17]
- The playing field is only 22 meters long and 16 meters wide.[15][16][17]
- 2 points are scored per tag.[18]
- A 30-second break is taken between the dismissal of one batch and the entry of the next batch.[19][a]
- If a batch of defenders can avoid being completely dismissed for at least 3 minutes (known as a "Dream Run"), they earn 1 point, and then an extra point for every 30 seconds survived afterwards.[20][21]
- One attacking player (known as the wazir) may run in any direction when acting as the active attacker.[12][13][14]
- The attacking team can take a powerplay in each of their attacking turns during which they have two wazirs. Each powerplay lasts until all 3 defenders of the current batch are out.[15][16][17]
- Each team's turn to score/defend lasts 7 minutes, with the break time between turns also shortened.[12][13][14]
- Tiebreaker (named "Minimum Chase"): Each team gets one additional turn to score (with the powerplay being active), and the team that scores its first point the fastest wins.[19]
Terminology
editThe game is split into two innings, each of which is split into two turns of seven minutes each. An interval of 3 minutes is taken after the end of the first inning, while a break of 2 minutes is taken after the end of the first and third turns respectively.[19]
Teams
edit
The six teams are named Chennai Quick Guns, Gujarat Giants, Mumbai Khiladis, Odisha Juggernauts, Rajasthan Warriors, and Telugu Yoddhas.[22]
Editions and results
edit| Season | Final | Teams | Player of the season | Ref | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Winner | Scoreline | Runner-up | Venue | ||||
| 2022 | Odisha Juggernauts | 46–45 | Telugu Yoddhas | Shree Shiv Chhatrapati Sports Complex, Pune | 6 | Ramji Kashyap | [23] |
| 2023–24 | Gujarat Giants | 31–26 | Chennai Quick Guns | Jawaharlal Nehru Indoor Stadium, Cuttack | Ramji Kashyap | [24] | |
Team performance records
edit| Team | Titles | Runner-up | Playoffs | Seasons won | Seasons runner-up | Seasons played |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Odisha Juggernauts | 1 | - | 2 | 2022 | - | 2 |
| Telugu Yoddhas | - | 1 | - | 2022 | ||
| Chennai Quick Guns | 2023-24 | |||||
| Gujarat Giants | 1 | - | 2023-24 | - | ||
| Mumbai Khiladis | - | - | - | |||
| Rajasthan Warriors |
League stage positions
edit| Team | Season | |
|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 2023-24 | |
| Gujarat Giants | 1st | 3rd |
| Odisha Juggernauts | 2nd | 2nd |
| Telugu Yoddhas | 3rd | 4th |
| Chennai Quick Guns | 4th | 1st |
| Mumbai Khiladis | 5th | 5th |
| Rajasthan Warriors | 6th | 6th |
Awards
edit| Season | Player of the Tournament | Rising Star of the Tournament[b] | Attacker of the Tournament | Defender of the Tournament | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | Ramji Kashyap of Chennai Quick Guns | Madan of Chennai Quick Guns | Abhinandan Patil of Gujarat Giants | Deepak Madhav of Telugu Yoddhas | [23] |
| 2023–24 | Shubham Thorat of Gujarat Giants | Pratik Waikar of Telugu Yoddhas | Aditya Ganpule of Telugu Yoddhas | [24] |
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ Laghate, Gaurav. "Ultimate Kho Kho franchises pick up 143 players from draft". The Economic Times. Retrieved 15 July 2022.
- ^ a b c Khosla, Varuni (17 January 2023). "Ultimate Kho Kho S1 claims total reach of 41 million viewers from India". mint. Retrieved 18 January 2023.
- ^ "Ultimate Kho Kho — Welcome revival or departure from roots?". sportstar.thehindu.com. 17 September 2022. Retrieved 15 August 2023.
- ^ "Entering the big league, Amit Burman's Ultimate Kho Kho all set to launch this year". Moneycontrol. 15 March 2021. Retrieved 17 July 2022.
- ^ "Indigenous sport gets modern treatment as Kho Kho is the latest to try league format". The Indian Express. 15 August 2022. Retrieved 15 August 2022.
- ^ R, Gopalakrishnan (29 August 2022). ""Women's League in Pipeline": Ultimate Kho Kho CEO Tenzing Niyogi". sportskeeda.com. Retrieved 5 September 2022.
- ^ "'Kho Kho has affection of masses, needs no promotion'". The Indian Express. 17 December 2023. Retrieved 17 December 2023.
- ^ Baparnash, Tridib (16 March 2023). "Making efforts to have a NE team in Ultimate Kho Kho: Mittal". EastMojo. Retrieved 29 August 2023.
- ^ Bhardwaj, Rohit (8 September 2022). "After success of Ultimate Kho Kho Season 1, India's 'maati ka khel' on the trail of global recognition". NEWS9LIVE. Retrieved 21 October 2022.
- ^ "Ultimate Kho Kho becomes first Indian sports league to secure PE investment". Business Standard.
- ^ "General 4". International Kho Kho Federation. Retrieved 2 October 2024.
- ^ a b c "Ultimate Kho Kho: Shorter duration, more points for acrobatic tags among new rules for the league". Scroll.in. 17 May 2019. Retrieved 17 July 2022.
- ^ a b c Understanding The Game Play - KHO-KHO, retrieved 15 July 2022
- ^ a b c "Ultimate Kho Kho Rules | Update New rules of Kho Kho". KHO KHO. Retrieved 16 July 2022.
- ^ a b c Chhabria, Vinay. "Scoring, fouls & more - All the rules of Kho Kho you need to know before Ultimate Kho Kho 2022". sportskeeda.com. Retrieved 14 August 2022.
- ^ a b c "Ultimate Kho Kho: Squads, format, fixtures – all you need to know about latest Indian sports league". Scroll.in. 14 August 2022. Retrieved 14 August 2022.
- ^ a b c Sharma, Avinash (14 August 2022). "Ultimate Kho Kho 2022: Revamped format, changed mat dimensions, tickets; all you need to know". MyKhel. Retrieved 14 August 2022.
- ^ Upadhyay, Maanas (24 January 2024). ""If I'm worried about whether he got two or three points, then I'll miss out on that"- UKK CEO Tenzing Niyogi divulges reason for scoring rule changes". www.sportskeeda.com. Retrieved 7 February 2024.
- ^ a b c "rules-season1.pdf". Google Docs. Retrieved 14 August 2022.
- ^ "Ultimate Kho Kho revolutionises traditional sport: Expanding, innovating and inspiring". Sakshi Post. 24 December 2023. Retrieved 24 December 2023.
- ^ "Ultimate Kho Kho Season 2: All your FAQs answered". Ultimate Kho Kho. 2023. Retrieved 24 December 2023.
- ^ "Ultimate Kho Kho League: 143 Players Picked In Season One Draft | Other Sports News". NDTVSports.com. Retrieved 15 July 2022.
- ^ a b "A Glance at the Season Award Winners of Ultimate Kho Kho Season 1". Ultimate Kho Kho. Retrieved 7 October 2022.
- ^ a b "Meet the Kings of Ultimate Kho Kho Season 2". Ultimate Kho Kho. 19 January 2024. Retrieved 21 January 2024.