ROURKELA: Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Sunday said all 17 blocks of Sundargarh district would be equipped with astro-turf facility.Attending the second exhibition match between New South Wales (NSW)-XI of Australia and Odisha-XI at Biju Patnaik Hockey stadium here, Naveen said Sundargarh would be the only district having largest number of astro-turfs. Describing Sundargarh district as the cradle of hockey, he said players from Rourkela and Sundargarh continue to bring laurels for the State and the country.
The Chief Minister also announced to set up a High Performance Centre for Hockey at Bhubaneswar and strengthen the hockey coaching system in Rourkela. Naveen hoped that the Prime Minister would respond positively to his request to officially notify hockey as India’s national game.Naveen said Odisha has organised international events, including the Champions Trophy and the final of the Hockey World League and added, “We are the proud organisers of Odisha Men’s Hockey World Cup 2018. All arrangements have been made and we hope to successfully conduct the event.”
NSW-XI level series
NSW-XI levelled the two-match series of Odisha-NSW Hockey Series by winning the second exhibition match here on Sunday.NSW came from behind to defeat Odisha-XI 3-2 in a hard fought match. Two international exhibition matches under the series were held to promote Odisha Men’s Hockey World Cup 2018, scheduled to start at Bhubaneswar from November 28. In a jam-packed stadium with 20,000 cheering spectators, Odisha team took 1-0 lead in the 25th minute with Prasan Tirkey netting a goal following a brilliant pass from skipper Roshan Minz. After the first half, Thomas Miotto scored a brilliant brace in 35th and 44th minute to give a 2-1 lead to NSW. Odisha skipper struck in the 53rd minute to level the score 2-2. But Odisha’s hope was short-lived as NSW skipper Kurt Lovett scored the winning goal three minutes later handing a well-deserved victory to his side. The first match of the series was won by Odisha 5-1.
Among others, hockey icon and former BJD MP Dilip Tirkey, Sports and Youth Affairs Minister C S Behera, Sundargarh district Collector S K Meena, RDA chairman S P Nayak, BJD MLAs Subrat Tarai and Mangla Kishan and Rourkela Municipal Corporation commissioner Rashmita Panda were present.
CM lays foundation stone for projects
Rourkela: After attending the international exhibition hockey match between New South Wales-XI and Odisha, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik laid the foundation for development projects and also inaugurated some completed projects in the steel city. District Information and Public Relations Officer A K Bhoi said the Chief Minister laid foundation for 25 projects worth around `137.33 crore towards development of parks, improvement of roads, strengthening health services and installation of LED street lighting system.