BHUBANESWAR: Hockey World Cup is back to the cradle of the game. After the outstanding success of Hockey Men’s World Cup 2018, Odisha is yet again set to play host to the showpiece event of global hockey in 2023.
Making the announcement on Wednesday, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik stated the Odisha Men’s Hockey World Cup 2023 will expand its wings to Rourkela from Bhubaneswar.
“Hockey fans will witness the finest display of hockey in the winter of 2023, both in Bhubaneswar and Rourkela”, he announced at a special function organised in Kalinga Stadium hockey complex here.
India is the first country to host the Hockey World Cup twice consecutively. It overcame competition from Malaysia and Belgium to host the top tournament of hockey for the second time back to back. India will, thus, become the first country to stage four men’s hockey world cups after having hosted the tournament in 1982 (Mumbai), 2010 (New Delhi) and 2018 (Bhubaneswar).
The Netherlands’ has hosted three tournaments. Hockey India selected Odisha as the venue with the State Government being a willing host. The tournament will be held from January 13 to 29, 2023.
“It’s a rare honour for any country to host a World Cup, but here Odisha as a State is going to host it for the second time in a row. We successfully hosted the 2018 World Cup. Are you happy? I am happy,” Naveen exhorted in his trademark style to a rousing response from the crowd.
With Rourkela proposed as the second venue for the World Cup, the Chief Minister said it will be a tribute to the contribution of Sundargarh to Indian hockey.
“This will put Rourkela and Sundargarh in the global map of hockey and bring recognition and development for the region”, he asserted. The Chief Minister laid the foundation stone for 17 synthetic turf training centres in Sundargarh. These will be completed in a year’s time. He also laid the foundation stone for the hockey high-performance centre building and launched the grassroots development programme in Sundargarh district by Hockey India.
On their completion, the infrastructure will be unmatched in the world. This kind of infrastructure is not available even in the top hockey-playing European nations, Naveen said.
He also released a documentary and a coffee table Book on Men’s Hockey World Cup 2018. The ceremony was attended by International Hockey Federation and Indian Olympic Association president Narinder Batra, Hockey India president Mohd. Mushtaque Ahmed, Chairman of Hockey Promotion Council Dilip Tirkey, Odisha Sports Minister Tusharkanti Behera, Chief Secretary Asit Tripathy, Development Commissioner Suresh Mohapatra, Sports and Youth Services Secretary Vishal Kumar Dev, 5T Secretary V Karthikeyan Pandian and Director Vineel Krishna.