TRANSCRIPT
"India welcomes the world with open arms. For the first time ever, Kho Kho is about to go global."
It's been described as 'the greatest sport you've never heard of'.
It might not have the same star power as the FIFA World Cup or the Olympics... but a group of Australians will capture the attention of millions, as they compete in the inaugural Kho Kho World Cup in New Delhi.
The ancient Indian game has a small and loyal group of players here, and they're hoping to boost its profile...one 'kho' at a time.
Kho Kho is an indigenous marvel born on the fields of India, a sport that embodies agility, strategy and raw human power.
Believed to have its roots in ancient Maharashtra and now with an average viewership of 164 million, Kho Kho is enjoying its moment in the global spotlight.
Thirty-nine national men's and women's teams are about to battle it out for the sport's ultimate prize.
Among them, a group of unlikely Australians.
Lee Moskiwa is the Kho Kho Australia Vice President.
"Usually you have a national level event or tournament, and then you work for several years to work to a world cup event and it's well known for everyone. We're doing it backwards."
Excitement for the event among Australia's South Asian diaspora is already building.
Sonam Garg is captain of the Australian Women's Kho Kho Team.
"I'm from the north of India, Chandigarh, and all schools play. We have a lot of inter-school competitions happening there, even now."
But for Maggie Greenham - it's been a steep learning curve.
"Feeling a mixture of nerves and excitement, I've never been to India before, and it's only been a couple of months I've been playing Kho Kho."
Here's how the game works.
Players in the chasing team take a crouched position facing opposite directions... except for one chaser.
The defending team sends in three players at a time to evade the chaser.
But chasers can only run in one direction.
To change course, they need to run around a post at either end of the court.
The chaser also can't cross the central line and need to tag one of their inactive teammates to hand the chase over.
The team with the most points or tags, wins the match.
Mr Moskiwa says the game brings back childhood memories.
"That strategy element is really interesting for people to see because it's nothing we've seen before, and yet everyone has played tip or tag and they've chased their friends at school, so it brings back that childhood memory too."
Ms Greenham says she's been playing different sports throughout her life, but not Kho Kho.
"I've grown up playing a range of kind of sports in rural Victoria - netball, cricket, swimming - so it's just really nice to try something that's completely different, and I think it's hard to appreciate how big the competition is going to be."
With some stiff competition from the likes of India, Nepal and Sri Lanka, the aim of the men and women's teams is to finish in the top six.
Ms Garg is impressed by her team's diversity.
"We have players from different sporting backgrounds, great athletes, and coming together the team work is really great, the communication between the team members is really great."
And with no government assistance so far, the body representing Kho Kho is trying to grow the sport from the grassroots.
Mr Moskiwa is hoping the sport becomes more mainstream here in Australia.
"It's a low-impact sport. All you need is a pair of shoes and a field and you can play, so there's a lot of potential there for Kho Kho to really become Australia's next sport... and stop being the greatest sport you've never heard of and actually be a sport that everyone embraces."
The tournament kicks off today in the Indian capital, New Delhi.
