BHUBANESWAR: The Battle of Kalinga, one of the bloodiest in world history, was fought in 262-261 BC between Maurya emperor Ashoka and the ruler of a region now known as Odisha. It’s said the Daya river running alongside the battlefield had turned red with blood. It’s also said the bloodshed had caused Ashoka to turn to Buddhism.
Come Saturday and another battle, albeit without bloodshed, will get underway at Kalinga Stadium Hockey Complex, with the 35th Men’s Champions Trophy tournament. The nine-day extravaganza is tipped to act as a catalyst for the speedy marketing of the sport in India.
The stadium drew international attention during the second edition of the Hockey India League, as home ground of Kalinga Lancers. All five matches witnessed capacity turnouts of 7,000 and the Temple City of Bhubaneswar turned out to be an ideal place to sell the sport in a state that has produced around 50 junior and senior internationals, including Dilip Tirkey, Lazrus Barla, Ignace Tirkey, William Xalxo and Birendra Lakra.
Champions Trophy is the third biggest event after the Olympic and World Cup. Hockey India, in collaboration with Odisha government, has made top-class arrangements. The tournament will see 24 matches. There will be four matches every day, except for three rest days on December 8, 10 and 12. After 12 league matches, the four quarterfinals will take place on December 11, followed by semifinals on 13 and the grand finale a day later.
India captain Sardar Singh will hope this turns out to be a lucky venue. The home team is in fine form, winning silver in Commonwealth Games and gold at Asian Games before beating an inexperienced Australian team Down Under. Champions Trophy is a tournament India have not won.
India will take on Germany in the fourth and last match on Saturday and a winning start will do them a world of good. The first team to arrive here, India have undergone seven practice sessions to fine-tune their strategy and coordination. They lost the first practice match against Netherlands 0-1, but bounced back to beat Australia 2-0. Sardar skipped practice for a day after suffering a muscle cramp in his left leg during the game against Australia on Wednesday, he should be fit.
Home ground, crowd support and recent record will give India some encouragement against Germany. In World League earlier this year, the teams met twice and India won the second one, while the first ended in a stalemate.
India coach Roelant Oltmans has exuded confidence about the team’s chances. “Our first goal is to beat Germany and make a winning start. If we do that, we’ll have a chance to secure a good position in the quarterfinals. Of course, we will try our best to win our maiden title and end the year on a high,” he said.
In the first three matches on the opening day, Australia face England, Belgium cross sword against Pakistan and Netherland take on Argentina. The Aussies are eying a sixth straight title. Led by Eddie Ockenden, they have a good mix of experience and youth.
Netherlands will be another strong contender for the title, while Belgium, who routed Germany 4-0 in a warm-up game on Thursday, will be the dark horse.