Kho kho

The field is 27 by 16 metres (89 by 52 ft), with a distance of 24 metres (79 ft) between the two poles, and the central lane having a width of 30 centimetres (12 in). Each of the cross lanes (which pass through the sitting areas that the chasers sit in, and go from one side of the court to the other) has a width of 35 centimetres (14 in), with adjacent cross lanes 2.3 metres (7 ft 7 in) apart, and a separation of 2.55 metres (8 ft 4 in) between each pole and its adjacent cross lane. Each pole is 120 to 125 centimetres (47 to 49 in) high and 9 to 10 centimetres (3.5 to 3.9 in) in diameter. The poles are smooth and round, with no sharp edges. There are 1.5 m (4 ft 11 in)-long extensions of the court behind each of the poles known as "free zones", in which there are no restrictions on chasers' movements.[4][10]

At the start of play, the active chaser starts off in one of the free zones, and can run into either half of the court to tag the three defenders. Once all three defenders have been tagged out or otherwise "dismissed", the next "batch" of three defenders comes onto the court.[10]

The active chaser can switch roles with a sitting teammate by touching them on the back and shouting "kho"; this is known as the active chaser "giving a kho" to the sitting teammate. For the kho to be valid, it must be given before the active chaser has gone past the cross lane that the teammate is sitting within. Once a sitting chaser becomes active, they may only enter the half of the court which they were facing while they were sitting; additionally, once the newly active chaser steps to the left or right of the cross lane they were sitting in (or turns in such a way that their shoulders face towards either pole), they must continue in that direction until they have reached the free zone.[10]

Violating any of these rules results in a "foul", in which case the active chaser can no longer attempt to tag any defenders. In order to clear the foul, the active chaser must move in the opposite direction of the one they were running in (i.e. away from the defenders they were chasing) until they have either given a kho to a teammate, or reached the appropriate free zone.[10]

The chasing team scores points each time a defender is ruled "out" (dismissed), which happens either when a chaser tags a defender without breaking any rules, when a defender steps out of the court (with no part of the body remaining grounded within), or when a defender is late to enter the court after the dismissal of the previous batch.[10][11]

In one variation of kho-kho, a team is no longer allowed to chase once it has tagged all the players on the other team. The team that tags all of its opponents in the shortest amount of time wins.[12]

Ultimate Kho Kho (UKK) is an Indian kho kho competition, and its first season took place in 2022. Many of the rules of kho kho are changed in this league:

• Only seven players from the chasing team are on the field.[13][14][15]
• The playing field is only 22 meters long and 16 meters wide.[13][14][15]
• Two points are scored for a regular tag, and three points are scored if a tag is made while a chaser is either fully outstretched and diving (known as a "Sky Dive") or touching a pole ("Pole Dive").[13][14][15]
• The defending team scores two bonus points if any batch (group) of three defenders can avoid being eliminated for two and a half minutes, and two additional points for every 30 seconds afterward.[13][14][15]
• One chasing player (known as the wazir) may run in any direction when acting as the active chaser.[16][17][18]
• The chasing team can take a powerplay in each of their chasing turns during which they have two wazirs. Each powerplay lasts until all three defenders in the current group are out.[13][14][15]
• Each team's turn to score/defend lasts 7 minutes.[16][17][18]
• Tiebreaker (known as a "Minimum Chase"): Each team gets one additional turn to score, and the team that scores its first point the fastest wins.[10]