
The Indian men's and women's teams stormed into the finals of the inaugural Kho Kho World Cup with commanding victories.
Ramji Kashyap used to spend most of the day stacking corrugated cardboard sheets like his family members. The journey could have ended in soundless drudgery. But the 22-year-old is now gathering medals and giant winners’ cheques as India’s best contemporary kho kho star!
Ramji was grown up in Velapur village in Maharashtra’s Solapur district. His father, two brothers, and sister would set off each day to deal in collecting scraps. Ramji, meanwhile, spent his time securing discarded packaging materials and tattered clothes.
Ramji’s passion for Kho-Kho grew after he was admitted to the town’s only English-medium municipal school.
Ramji could launch unfettered sprints, and dive and dodge his way into becoming India’s finest in the sport. In the ongoing Kho Kho World Cup in New Delhi, Ramji looks like a bullet knocking out of a Rajnikanth pistol!
The Kho-Kho star still remembers stacks of folded crates on his head when he returns to his village. Speaking to The Indian Express, he said, "The work of a scrap dealer is physically arduous. You carry 30-40 kg (of scrap) on the head, walk around with weights to match, and, at best, earn Rs 3,000-5,000 at the end of it. It is a tough life, and Kho-Kho was my way out, though I can never leave the family work.”
Ramji first shined in the domestic Ultimate Kho Kho league, winning the best player’s award for the last two years and receiving Rs 5 lakh as a top-tier player for an entire season.
He says his parents were “extremely reluctant” to allow him time off to train for the sport earlier. “It was one pair of hands less to help them pick scrap. They were dead against it, but my siblings supported me,” Ramji recalls.
Ramji was scouted at a senior nationals’ event and picked up by the Chennai Quick Guns franchise. Overnight, he became a Kho-Kho sensation for millions due to his defensive dashes "He always had the physicality, the body language, and the speed for this game," says coach Somanath Bansode, adding that he was left impressed by Ramji’s tirelessness to improve his stamina and consistency in a quiet sport.
This very quality has helped him land a job with Central Railway in Mumbai. And for putting the accent of “ultimate/extreme” in the sport visually, Ramji has landed the nickname ‘Rambo’.
Meanwhile, the Indian men's and women's teams stormed into the finals of the inaugural Kho Kho World Cup with commanding victories. The Indian women dominated South Africa, showcasing exceptional tactics to secure a resounding 66-16 win in the semifinals. The men’s team booked their spot in the final with an impressive 62-42 victory over South Africa. The women's team is now set to face Nepal in an exciting final clash.
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