LIMPOPO – Team South Africa walked away with a bronze medal after finishing third in the first-ever Kho-Kho World Cup in India.

They had an impressive start where both the men and women teams led their groups after winning all their games. However, their hopes of winning the title were crushed in the semi-finals when both teams met India, the men lost 64-42, while the women were beaten 66-16.

Although they were disappointed, they were able to redeem themselves after winning against Uganda and Iran competing for third place.

“We well represented Africa. We started as underdogs. We are proud of the boys and girls. Our first international championship and the first World Cup. We have learned and we will come back strong in 2029,” explained Moses Mohale, team SA manager.

Mohale is a teacher in Nkowankowa outside Tzaneen and has been with the team for the past two weeks when they gathered in Johannesburg to prepare for the global competition from January 13 to January 19.

Kho-Kho is an Indian game of tag played with two teams of 12 people. It is the second-most popular traditional tag game in the Indian subcontinent after
kabaddi.