Kho Kho

At a glance

• A team nominates twelve players, with nine taking the field in the standard form.
• Eight chasers occupy the central lane in alternating directions while one chaser is active.
• Each legal runner dismissal adds to the chasing team's score.

Player profile. Kho Kho rewards sharp acceleration, repeat-sprint endurance, flexible turning, spatial memory, and rapid communication. Chasers must read two or three moves ahead because a poor handover can strand the chase on the wrong side of the central lane. Runners need balance, deceptive footwork, and calm boundary awareness; both roles demand safe control at high speed around teammates and poles.

Where it happens

The formal court is a long rectangle with a central lane, cross lanes, free zones, and a pole at each end. The current international public explainer gives a typical footprint of about 29 by 16 metres, while age groups and national regulations can specify alternatives. The surface should be level and non-slip, with safe pole padding or certified construction, clear boundary visibility, and space for officials and outgoing runner batches.

• International public guidance describes a court of roughly 29 m by 16 m.
• A central lane, cross lanes, two end poles, free zones, and outer boundaries organize movement.

What you need

• Marked court or approved mat
• Two regulation end poles
• Scoreboard and timing system
• Numbered team kit
• Whistles and officials' records

How to play

1. The chasing side begins with eight players seated or kneeling in alternating directions along the central lane and one active chaser near an end. Runners enter in batches and evade until tagged or otherwise dismissed.
2. The active chaser can transfer pursuit by touching a seated teammate from behind and audibly saying kho. Teams later exchange chasing and running roles, and the greater number of valid dismissals decides the contest.

The essential rules

1. Only the designated active chaser may attempt a tag.
2. Seated chasers occupy their assigned central-lane boxes and face alternating directions.
3. A transfer becomes effective only after the active chaser gives a legal touch and audible kho to the correct teammate.
4. An active chaser may not cross the central lane except through a permitted pole or free-zone route.
5. The active chaser may not reverse direction illegally after committing to a lane direction.
6. A runner is out after a legal hand touch by the active chaser.
7. A runner is also out for leaving the playing boundary or committing another defined self-out.
8. Runner batches enter in the order and number prescribed by the competition format.
9. Obstruction, pushing, holding, or unsafe contact is not a legal tag.
10. A chaser must not rise early or leave the assigned box before receiving kho.
11. Time stops or restarts only on an official signal.
12. Tie and extra-turn procedures come from the event rulebook, not informal custom.

How the result is decided

The chasing team receives the value prescribed for each valid runner dismissal. Scores across the scheduled turns or innings are compared; event rules govern ties and any special bonus system.

Fouls and penalties

• Early rise by a seated chaser
• Illegal direction change
• Crossing the central lane improperly
• Giving kho incorrectly
• Obstruction or unsafe contact
• Runner boundary violation

Techniques

• Pole turn
• Diving hand touch
• Giving and receiving kho
• Zigzag evasion
• Body feint
• Controlled acceleration

Tactics

• Use handovers to keep pursuit angles short.
• Pressure a runner toward a pole without giving an easy escape around it.
• Runners can vary pace and use the central chain as a visual screen while staying legal.

Disciplines and variants

• Standard or test-format kho kho
• Fast-format professional adaptations
• Mat kho kho
• Beach or demonstration adaptations

Competition landscape

• Kho Kho World Cup
• Asian Kho Kho Championship
• National Kho Kho Championships
• School and university championships under applicable bodies

Records in the reference

No stable record table is published here. Records change; use the current governing-body source before acting.

How the sport developed

Kho Kho developed from Indian running-and-chasing traditions and was progressively standardized through clubs, schools, national bodies, and later an international federation. The central seated chain and constrained direction rules turned a simple chase into a highly tactical team contest. Recent professional and international events have introduced faster presentation and alternative point values, which means users must distinguish the federation's standard rulebook from a league's entertainment format before training or officiating.

• The word kho is both the sport's name and the audible handover command.
• Players switch between explosive chaser work and evasive runner work within one match.

Play it in India

• Kho Kho is the current organisation reference and is matched to a dated MYAS recognition source. 1 SAI National Centre of Excellence publish a matching discipline. This does not establish local intake, price, schedule or availability.

Organisation reference

Kho Kho

Recognition state

MYAS recognition list matched

SAI NCOE discipline rows

1

Khelo India discipline

Not established

Olympic programme

Not a current core-programme sport

India Olympic medals

No sport-level total in current sources

Evidence and currency

This is an original KhelPath explainer assembled from editorial research. It is orientation, not an authoritative rulebook.

International Kho-Kho Federation Rule Book 2024 and public play guide ↗ · observed 2026-08-28

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