New Delhi [India], January 24 (ANI): Union Minister of State for Youth Affairs and Sports, Raksha Nikhil Khadse, met and congratulated both the men’s and women’s kho kho teams, who recently won the World Cup, here on Friday. The Minister applauded the dominating manner in which both the teams clinched the glittering World Cup trophies.
“It is such a momentous occasion for the country that both our men’s and women’s teams clinched the first-ever World Cup in kho kho, especially the dominating fashion in which we won gives me immense pride. This is our indigenous sport, the sport of our soil, our villages. The entire country celebrated the victory, even in distant parts. I want to congratulate Kho Kho Federation of India (KKFI) president (Sudhanshu) Mittal ji and his entire team for putting a lot of effort into helping the game earn the much-required fame and create ripples internationally,” Khadse said while addressing the World Cup-winning teams.
Pratik Waikar-led Indian men’s team defeated Nepal in the title clash while the women’s team that was captained by Priyanka Ingle, also triumphed against Nepal in the finale. The first-ever Kho Kho World Cup saw 23 countries across 6 continents featuring in the week-long tournament with 20 men’s and 19 women’s teams being a part of it.
“Not only Maharashtra, where the sport originated, but other states also performed very well, which is very heartening to see. I would urge all the players to promote the sport in their states/districts/cities etc. You need to tell people in your region about your achievements so that more children get inspired to take up the sport. I would like to extend my best wishes to each player present here for more success in the future,” she added.
The Sports Authority of India (SAI) supported KKFI to organise a month-long national camp from December 10, 2024, to January 11, 2025, at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium at no cost. A total of 60 men and 60 women from 27 states trained at the facility.
Kho Kho Federation of India (KKFI) president Sudhanshu Mittal expressed gratitude to the government for extending all kinds of support for the successful staging of the World Cup at the Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium in New Delhi.
“The Indian government has been very supportive towards indigenous sports like kho kho. Sports Minister Dr. Mansukh Mandaviya and MoS Smt. Raksha Khadse supported us in every way possible which led to the successful staging of the World Cup. We have already announced the staging of the next World Cup in Birmingham after 4 years and would like to conduct the World Championship here in India if the government allows us,” Mittal said.
To this, Khadse assured the KKFI president that she would discuss the matter with the Union Sports Minister Mansukh Mandaviya.
“I will discuss the idea given by Mittal ji with our honourable Sports Minister and we will surely extend all possible help to popularise and promote kho kho further,” she said.
Meanwhile, the Maharashtra government has approved cash rewards of Rs 2.25 crore for each player from the state who participated in the Kho Kho World Cup, along with a Class 1 job in the state government after persuasion from Khadse. (ANI)
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