Ultimate Kho Kho
Ultimate Kho Kho (UKK)[1] is an Indian franchise-based Kho kho league started in 2022. It is hosted in collaboration by Dabur with the Kho Kho Federation of India.[2] The inaugural season, consisting of 6 teams, took place from 14 August to 4 September 2022,[3] with Odisha Juggernauts winning the season after beating Telugu Yoddhas by the score of 46-45 in the final;[4][5] it had a viewership of 64 million, 41 million of which came from India,[2] making UKK the third-most viewed non-cricket competition in India after the Pro Kabaddi League and the Indian Super League.[2]
Most recent season or competition: 2022 | |
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Sport | Kho Kho |
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Founded | 2022 |
Inaugural season | 2022 |
CEO | Tenzing Niyogi |
No. of teams | 6 |
Country | India |
Venue(s) | Shree Shiv Chhatrapati Sports Complex |
Most recent champion(s) | Odisha Juggernauts (1st title) (2022) |
Most titles | Odisha Juggernauts (1 title) |
Official website | https://www.ultimatekhokho.com/ |
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Seasons |
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History
Several changes were made to the standard rules of kho-kho in UKK in order to make the game more exciting and presentable on television.[6] Sony Pictures Network India signed a 5-year deal to broadcast UKK, and will invest ₹200 crore (US$25 million) into the league over the 5 years.[7]
An exhibition match was played on July 14, 2022.[8] The player draft for the league was completed later that day, with 143 players chosen.[9][10] Special effort had to be made to find a suitable indoor arena for the first season of Ultimate Kho Kho, given the requirement to have firmly fastened poles as part of the playing area.[11]
There are plans to launch a women's version of UKK in a few years' time.[12][13] Future editions of UKK are planned to expand to eight teams (potentially including a team from Northeast India),[14] with venues in multiple cities to be used, and some foreign players to be allowed to participate.[15]
Rules
UKK rules follow the standard rules of Kho Kho with the following exceptions:[16][17][18]
- Only 7 players from the attacking (chasing) team are on the field.[19][20][21]
- The playing field is only 22 meters long and 16 meters wide.[19][20][21]
- 2 points are scored for a regular tag (known as a "Running Touch"),[22] and 3 points are scored if a tag is made while an attacker is either fully outstretched and diving ("Sky Dive") or touching a pole ("Pole Dive").[19][20][21]
- The defending team scores two bonus points if any batch of 3 defenders can avoid being eliminated for two and a half minutes, and two additional points for every 30 seconds afterward.[19][20][21]
- One attacking player (known as the "Wazir") may run in any direction when acting as the active attacker.[16][17][18]
- 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.[19][20][21]
- Each team's turn to score/defend lasts 7 minutes, with the break time between turns also shortened.[16][17][18]
- Tiebreaker (named "Minimum Chase"): Each team gets one additional turn to score, and the team that scores its first point the fastest wins.[23]
Teams







The six teams are named Chennai Quick Guns, Gujarat Giants, Mumbai Khiladis, Odisha Juggernauts, Rajasthan Warriors, and Telugu Yoddhas.[24]
Tournament seasons and results
Titles won by each team
Team | Title(s) | Runner-up | Playoffs | Seasons won | Seasons runner-up | Seasons in playoffs | No. of seasons played |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Odisha Juggernauts | 1 | - | 1 | 2022 | - | 2022 | 1 |
Telugu Yoddhas | - | 1 | 1 | - | 2022 | 2022 | 1 |
Chennai Quick Guns | - | - | 1 | - | - | 2022 | 1 |
Gujarat Giants | - | - | 1 | - | - | 2022 | 1 |
Mumbai Khiladis | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1 |
Rajasthan Warriors | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1 |
UKK season results
Season | Final | No. of teams | Player of the season | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Winner | Scoreline | Runner-up | Venue | |||
2022 | Odisha Juggernauts | 46-45 | Telugu Yoddhas | Shree Shiv Chhatrapati Sports Complex, Pune | 6 | Ramji Kashyap (CQG)[25] |
Teams' performances
Team | Season |
---|---|
2022 | |
Odisha Juggernauts | 1st |
Telugu Yoddhas | 2nd |
Chennai Quick Guns | 3rd |
Gujarat Giants | 4th |
Mumbai Khiladis | 5th |
Rajasthan Warriors | 6th |
League stage positions
Team | Season |
---|---|
2022 | |
Gujarat Giants | 1st |
Odisha Juggernauts | 2nd |
Telugu Yoddhas | 3rd |
Chennai Quick Guns | 4th |
Mumbai Khiladis | 5th |
Rajasthan Warriors | 6th |
Awards
Award | Season |
---|---|
2022[25] | |
Player of the Tournament | Ramji Kashyap (Chennai Quick Guns) |
Young Player of the Tournament | Madan (Chennai Quick Guns) |
Attacker of the Tournament | Abhinandan Patil (Gujarat Giants) |
Defender of the Tournament | Deepak Madhav (Telugu Yoddhas) |
References
- Laghate, Gaurav. "Ultimate Kho Kho franchises pick up 143 players from draft". The Economic Times. Retrieved 15 July 2022.
- 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 Season 1: Schedule, teams, rules, format, terms of the sport, when and where to watch". sportstar.thehindu.com. 14 August 2022. Retrieved 7 October 2022.
- "Ultimate Kho Kho: Odisha Juggernauts Crowned Champions of Inaugural Edition". News18. 5 September 2022. Retrieved 5 September 2022.
- "Ultimate Kho Kho: Odisha Juggernauts lift inaugural title". Khel Now. Retrieved 7 October 2022.
- "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. Retrieved 17 July 2022.
- "Ultimate Kho Kho: Players showcase exciting form in exhibition match". ThePrint. 14 July 2022. Retrieved 15 July 2022.
- Sharma, Avinash (15 July 2022). "Ultimate Kho Kho 2022: Full list of players picked in draft, Complete Squad of all 6 Teams". myKhel. Retrieved 18 July 2022.
- Mohamed, Farzan. "Ultimate Kho Kho 2022: Full list of players in squads and drafted names in each UKK franchise". sportskeeda.com. Retrieved 15 July 2022.
- Judge, Shahid (4 September 2022). "Ultimate Kho Kho: From Spider Cam to poles, here's how the playing area was set up in Pune". Scroll.in. Retrieved 29 August 2023.
- "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. ""Women's League in Pipeline": Ultimate Kho Kho CEO Tenzing Niyogi". sportskeeda.com. Retrieved 5 September 2022.
- 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: Shorter duration, more points for acrobatic tags among new rules for the league". Scroll.in. Retrieved 17 July 2022.
- Understanding The Game Play - KHO-KHO, retrieved 15 July 2022
- "Ultimate Kho Kho Rules | Update New rules of Kho Kho". KHO KHO. Retrieved 16 July 2022.
- 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.
- "Ultimate Kho Kho: Squads, format, fixtures – all you need to know about latest Indian sports league". Scroll.in. Retrieved 14 August 2022.
- 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.
- "Listing the top five Attackers from Ultimate Kho Kho Season 1". Ultimate Kho Kho. Retrieved 2 August 2023.
- "rules-season1.pdf". Google Docs. Retrieved 14 August 2022.
- "Ultimate Kho Kho League: 143 Players Picked In Season One Draft | Other Sports News". NDTVSports.com. Retrieved 15 July 2022.
- "A Glance at the Season Award Winners of Ultimate Kho Kho Season 1". Ultimate Kho Kho. Retrieved 7 October 2022.