BHUBANESWAR: Kalinga Stadium Hockey Complex is all set to make Temple City Bhubaneswar the new ‘Hockey City of the world by staging the 35th FIH Men’s Champions Trophy from Saturday. The stadium with a capacity of 7,000 drew international attention by hosting five matches of Hockey India League earlier this year.
After the Champions Trophy, it is likely to be the venue for the FIH World Cup in 2018. All these wouldn’t have been possible had Olympian-turned-politician Dilip Tirkey not boycotted the stadium for three months in 2010, in protest against the ill-treatment meted out to him and fellow sportspersons by the then in-charge of the multi-discipline stadium. “I won’t enter Kalinga Stadium until the completion of construction work of the hockey stadium,” the former India captain had announced.
Though Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik laid the foundation of the hockey stadium in June, 2006, it was Tirkey’s ill-treatment issue that forced the government to expedite work. A humble Tirkey, now Rajya Sabha MP, credits Patnaik, who inaugurated the hockey stadium in July last year.
“When we met the Chief Minister with the proposal of setting up the State Sports Academy, featuring hockey, athletics and swimming, he not only approved but assured to make it one of the best in the world. Thanks to him, Bhubaneswar now has one of the best hockey stadiums,” said Tirkey.
“What makes Kalinga Stadium Hockey Complex special is its proximity to international airport and star hotels. Lots of greenery around the complex adds to the beauty of the venue,” opined Lazrus Barla, another Olympian from Odisha.
According to stadium in-charge Bajia Mohanty, the state-of-the-art venue is the second of its kind in the country with two synthetic turfs and the only one with identical blue-and-pink pitches. The main hockey complex has two spectator stands, lots of parking area and an international-standard swimming complex nearby.
Built by Infrastructure Development Corporation of Odisha (IDCO) at a cost of around `30 crore, the hockey complex is also being used by 60 trainees, including 30 girls, of the newly-opened senior hockey hostel inside Kalinga Stadium.
The blue-and-pink synthetic surfaces, which were used in 2012 London Olympics, have been laid by Germany-based company Polytan at a cost of around `6.5 crore each. Hockey India should be thankful to the Odisha government for letting it be the venue of the Champions Trophy free of cost.