The inaugural edition of Kho Kho World Cup is set to be played from January 13 to 19 at the Indira Gandhi Stadium in India. The tournament will see participation from 39 teams in the men and women's categories. A potentially exciting match between India and Nepal in the men's section will set the ball rolling for the tournament. The men's competition features 20 teams divided into four groups while the women's segment has 19 teams put into four sections.
The league stage will culminate on January 16. The quarter-finals will take place on the very next day, while January 18 will feature semi-finals. Final matches of both the men and women's categories will take place on January 19.
Indian women's team will begin its campaign with a match against South Korea on January 14.
Play-Off format
Each team will play against its opponents once in its group. The top two teams from each group will qualify for the quarterfinals before the semis and finals pan out.
Teams and groupings
Men -
Group A: India, Nepal, Peru, Brazil, Bhutan
Group B: South Africa, Ghana, Argentina, Netherlands, Iran
Group C: Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, South Korea, USA, Poland
Group D: England, Germany, Malaysia, Australia, Kenya
Women -
Group A: India, Iran, Malaysia, South Korea
Group B: England, Australia, Kenya, Uganda, Netherlands
Group C: Nepal, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, Germany, Bangladesh
Group D: South Africa, New Zealand, Poland, Peru, Indonesia
Indian Men's Kho Kho Team: Pratik Waikar (captain), Prabani Sabar, Mehul, Sachin Bhargo, Suyash Gargate, Ramji Kashyap, Siva Pothir Reddy, Aditya Ganpule, Gowtham M.K., Nikhil B, Akash Kumar, Subramani V, Suman Barman, Aniket Pote, S. Rokeson Singh.
Standby: Akshay Bangare, Rajvardhan Shankar Patil, Vishwanath Janakiram.
Indian Women's Kho Kho Team: Priyanka Ingle (captain), Ashwini Shinde, Reshma Rathore, Bhilar Devjibhai, Nirmala Bhati, Neeta Devi, Chaithra R, Subhashree Sing, Magai Majhi, Anshu Kumari, Vaishnavi Bajrang, Nasreen Shaikh, Meenu, Monika, Nazia Bibi.
Standby: Sampada More, Ritika Siloriya, Priyanka Bhopi.