Three Odisha Players Selected for Indian Teams in Kho Kho World Cup 2025

Bhubaneswar: Three players from Odisha have been selected to represent India in the inaugural Kho Kho World Cup, which will be held in New Delhi.

Pabani Sabar has been chosen to represent the men’s Indian Kho Kho team, while Magai Majhi and Subhashree Sing have secured spots in the women’s Indian Kho Kho team. The competition is scheduled to take place from January 13 to 19 at the Indira Gandhi Stadium, with a total of 20 men’s and 19 women’s teams participating.

These three players have represented Odisha at the Senior National Championships and have been training for the past eight months at the Odisha AM/NS Kho Kho High Performance Centre (HPC), under the guidance of Sanjeev Sharma, the head coach.

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Coach Sharma expressed his pride in the players, saying, “I have been with these players for the last three and a half years. Pabani has always been an all-rounder and an amazing player. He was part of the team that recently won gold at the Ultimate Kho Kho Tournament.

I’m so happy for him.” He also highlighted the stiff competition the women’s team faced to make it to the World Cup squad, especially for Magai, whose speed and agility stood out, and for Subhashree, who excels in both attacking and defending.

Sharma is confident that one of the players will take home the “player-of-the-match” award in one of the World Cup matches, based on their past performances.

Earlier this month, the Odisha government announced its decision to sponsor the national Kho Kho team from January 2025 to December 2027, a move that has been praised for both supporting the team and encouraging young players to take up the sport.

In addition to the three players, four technical officials from Odisha will also be part of the inaugural Kho Kho World Cup.