BHUBANESWAR: The Indian hockey team is all set to start afresh for Odisha Hockey Men’s World Cup-2018, keeping their setback in the recently concluded Asian Games in Jakarta behind.
Informing this, Indian defender Birendra Lakra on his arrival here on Saturday said in the cricket-crazy nation, the Odisha Government’s nationwide campaign for the mega event has given a new dimension to hockey. “While we were playing for the country, I realised that we were getting special attention as my State surprised the nation by sponsoring the national hockey team”, he added.
“We had never seen such a campaign to promote hockey in the world before. Our team members are eagerly waiting to make a strong comeback in the home ground,” he said.
Speaking on the team performance and getting bronze medal in the Asian Games, Lakra said, “It was a nightmare for me. I had never expected that after dominating the tournament, we had to suffer a defeat from Malaysia in the penalty shutout. It was the worst memory of my life. I consider that was not our day.”
“After that debacle, we sat till 2 am and it was hard to digest that chance of winning gold medal had slipped out of our hands,” he added.
“In comparison to other states, our Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has announced a massive cash award for Asian Games medal winners which also surprised me. Though I faced some injuries during the matches, I will be back on the ground in a week,” said Lakra.
The Chief Minister will felicitate two Odia hockey players, Berendra Lakra and Amit Rohidas, with `50 lakh each for their performance.