Kale Sarika Sudhakar

Sarika Kale is an Indian kho kho player from Maharashtra. She became the captain of the Maharashtra women's state kho kho team in 2010, leading the team to three national championships. Selected for the India women's national kho kho team in 2015, she was named captain of the team before the 2016 South Asian Games. She led the team to victory in the South Asian Games and in the Third Asian Kho-Kho Championship, where she received the match winner award in the final against Bangladesh.

Coming from a poor family in the Osmanabad district, Kale struggled financially for years due to unemployment. Her achievements in kho kho have been recognised by the Government of Maharashtra and the Government of India. She was the recipient of her state's Shiv Chhatrapati Award in 2016 and the Arjuna Award in 2020.

Personal life Kale was born in Umbre Kota village, Osmanabad district, Maharashtra. Hers was a very poor family and her father, mother, and grandmother made efforts to support her sporting career. She had also applied for a job in the Indian Railways in 2014 without success. Kho kho is one of the popular traditional sports of India, played across the country. Kale was selected for the Maharashtra women's state kho kho team in 2006 and has participated in 25 different national championships and tournaments with the team.

In 2015, Kale joined the national team of India and was named captain of the team in 2016. The India team won the gold medal at the 2016 South Asian Games, held at Guwahati.

Awards and honours Kale has received numerous awards and recognition, including the Shiv Chhatrapati Award from the Government of Maharashtra. Sudhanshu Mittal, the president of the Kho-Kho Federation of India, tweeted and called it a "greatest boost to indigenous games [in India]".