In Delhi, the home team’s men’s and women’s teams defeated Nepal handily in the championship final.
At the first Kho Kho World Cup 2025, held at the Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium here, India made a big impression by winning the men’s and women’s titles after defeating Nepal 54-36 and 78-40, respectively, on Sunday.After defeating Nepal in the Asian Kho Kho Championships in Assam the previous year, the Indian men’s and women’s teams were aware of their advantages and disadvantages.
The clinical victory was highlighted by the Indian women’s smooth running and team synchronization. As Nepal battled against the unrelenting Indian assaults, India got off to a solid start in Turn 1 with captain Priyanka Ingle leading from the front.
Nepal was out seven times thanks to quick touches and India’s strategic acumen, which helped the team to a dominant 35 points without allowing the opposition to make a Dream Run. India led 35-24 at halftime, despite Nepal’s quick comeback in Turn 2 with an All Out spearheaded by Dipa BK.
With a score of 73-24 in Turn 3, India continued to dominate. The pivotal moment during Turn 4 was Player-of-the-Match Chaithra B’s Dream Run, which helped India win by a score of 38 points.
Today was a historic day. Coach Sumit Bhatia told HT, “I am proud of the team’s campaign because of how confidently they carried themselves throughout the campaign.” “We preserved some tactics and abilities for the knockout stage later and made a lot of adjustments during the league stages. For example, in order to avoid injury, we did not use too many dives early.
Former captain and 2023 Arjuna awardee Nasreen Shaikh declared her retirement after the win.
India got out to a fast start in Turn 1 of the men’s final, with Suyash Gargate and Ramji Kashyap setting the tone with touches and sky dives to give the team a 26-0 lead and prevent Nepal a Dream Run.
In Turn 2, Nepal retaliated, but was unable to overthrow India’s rule. Nepal was able to close the margin because to frequent touches from Janak Chand and Suraj Pujara, but India led 26–18 at the break.
With help from Kashyap and Ganpule, India’s captain Pratik Waikar made many sky dives in turn three to increase their lead to 54-18.
Nepal made a last-ditch effort to rally, but India’s defenders, led by Waikar and Sachin Bhargo, held firm. India won 54-36 to take home the championship, with Mehul and Suman Barman helping to seal the win.
Nepal’s strength is chasing, therefore they may have trapped us. However, we corrected our defensive errors in the first game,” captain Waikar stated. “I am confident that the growth of kho kho as a sport will continue after this victory.”
England is probably going to host the next tournament in 2027, according to coach Ashwini Kumar.
