New Delhi [India], August 29 (ANI): The capital witnessed the launch of the Ultimate Kho Kho (UKK) Junior Championship on the National Sports Day on Friday.

The championship, a grassroots initiative for India's most popular indigenous sports, seeks to hone potential stars of the future.

The two-day tournament is bringing together 32 school teams from Delhi and NCR, offering a platform for young athletes to showcase their skills and compete for top honours, as per a UKK press release.

Driven by the Ultimate Kho Kho (UKK) League, the tournament will fuel the grassroots fire by bringing India's traditional sport into schools, with prize money worth Rs 31,000 for winners, Rs 21,000 for runners-up, and Rs 11,000 each for two third-place finishers. More than 1,500 students will unite over two days to celebrate India's oldest indigenous sport, turning the arena into a festival of energy, pride, and passion.

The matches will be played in the fast-paced UKK format, introduced in 2022, which has reinvented Kho Kho for a new generation with TV-ready rules, speed, and thrill. It's no longer just a schoolyard chase, it's a high-octane sport designed to grip both players and audiences.

Highlighting the impact, Kho Kho Federation of India (KKFI) President Sudhanshu Mittal said, 'Kho Kho has always been about speed, strategy, and teamwork. With platforms like the UKK Junior Championship, we're seeing young players connect deeply with the sport. As India pushes for indigenous games to gain ground in global events like the Asian Games and the Olympics, grassroots tournaments like this are vital.'

The Junior Cup is just the beginning of an action-packed year for Kho Kho. With Ultimate Kho Kho Season 3 launching on November 29, 2025, and foreign players set to join the league for the first time, the sport is sprinting toward a bigger, bolder stage, the release said. (ANI)