15th edition of FIH Hockey Men’s World The cup is all set to kickstart in Odisha in just six days.
The curiosity about this phenomenon is increasing with each passing day and it is visible to almost everyone.
The mineral-rich state’s association with hockey goes back several decades. Odisha has produced over a hundred national level players for the Indian team, including Dilip Tirkey, Ignace Tirkey, Lazarus Barla, Jyoti Sunita Kullu and Sunita Lakra.
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The current Indian men’s and women’s national teams also feature several Odisha players, including Amit Rohidas, Shilanand Lakra, Deep Grace Ekka, Neelam Zess and Namita Toppo.
Over the past two decades, the Government of Odisha has also actively and heavily invested in international hockey, hosting various large scale multi-national events such as the FIH World Cup, FIH Men’s Junior World Cup, FIH Series Finals, FIH World League, FIH Champions is hosted. Trophy and FIH Hockey Pro League.
Before the mega sporting extravaganza begins, here’s a look at the venues where the world’s best hockey teams will compete for the coveted trophy.
Kalinga Stadium, Bhubaneswar
The Kalinga Stadium is one of the two venues for the FIH Men’s World Cup 2023. The stadium gets its name from the historical region to the east of ‘Kalinga’. India of the same name, which included parts of two other Indian states: Andhra Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, as well as the modern state of Odisha in its entirety.
The Kalinga Hockey Stadium is a part of a multi-purpose complex collectively referred to as the Kalinga International Stadium, which includes an eight-lane synthetic athletics track, various high performance centres, a football stadium, an Olympic swimming facility and more.
It has facilities for athletics, football, hockey, tennis, table tennis, basketball, volleyball, sport climbing and swimming.
The citizens of Bhubaneshwar are well known in the world of hockey as they come in large numbers for international hockey matches held in the city.
Many players from different hockey playing nations also cite Bhubaneswar as their favorite place to play hockey because of the atmosphere created by the crowd.
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The Kalinga Hockey Stadium has become the global center of hockey for almost a decade now. The stadium hosted its first major international tournament when it was awarded the hosting rights of the Champions Trophy in 2014.
The success of the event inspired further action, as the 2017 Hockey World League Final saw eight of the world’s best teams gather in Odisha to play in front of a packed audience. A year later, the Kalinga Stadium once again hosted the major men’s hockey tournament, the FIH Hockey Men’s World Cup, played in Bhubaneswar.
Since then, the Kalinga Stadium has been home to the Indian hockey team, with not only the men’s and women’s teams training at the stadium, but also playing their home matches during the FIH Hockey Pro League.
In 2021, the FIH Men’s Junior World Cup was also to be played at the Kalinga Stadium.
Birsa Munda International Hockey Stadium, Rourkela
Rourkela’s Birsa Munda International Hockey Stadium is one of the two venues for the FIH Men’s World Cup 2023.
The stadium is named after Birsa Munda, a tribal freedom fighter and folk hero who led the Millennial Movement in the Bengal Presidency in the late 19th century, making him an important figure in the history of the independence movement.
Rourkela is one of the largest cities of Odisha, famous for various industrial establishments including one of India’s first steel plants.
The city also occupies a central location in Odisha’s eastern hockey belt in Sundergarh district, which has produced top hockey talents for India, including former India captain Dilip Tirkey, the most capped player in Indian men’s history. Huh. Hockey, and currently serves as the President of Hockey India.
It aims to give a much-needed boost to the hockey infrastructure in the district, thereby paving the way for future stars to have access to international-class facilities in their region.
Birsa Munda International Hockey Stadium is built on 15 acres of land in Biju Patnaik University technology campus in Rourkela, often referred to as the “Steel City of Odisha”.
The stadium will now replace the Kalinga Hockey Stadium as the largest stadium in Odisha with a seating capacity of 21,000.
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(This story has not been edited by News18 staff and is published from a syndicated news agency feed)