ROURKELA: Ahead of the FIH Men’s Hockey World Cup, the practice and main turfs of the newly-constructed Birsa Munda stadium at Chhend Colony here are being tested to meet the quality and standards of the international governing body of hockey.
Two practice matches between Korea Junior and Odisha XI and India Junior and SAIL were held on Friday evening. A day back, SAIL and Junior India had played a practice match. From December 24 to 27, Korea Junior and India Junior are scheduled to play three test match series.
Hockey India president Dilip Tirkey said as per the guidelines of FIH, practice matches are being played to test quality, standard and performance of the turfs in the new stadium. “It is going to be a historic moment for Rourkela as the city will host international matches for the first time. Young players and hockey lovers of the region will get an opportunity to watch their favourite teams and players in action,” he added.
Visiting Rourkela a few days back, chief secretary Suresh Chandra Mahapatra had said licences were received for the practice and main grounds along with flood lighting system. After the practice and test matches are played, any deficiency found would be corrected immediately.
The Birsa Munda hockey stadium (BMHS) has been constructed over 15 acre on the Biju Patnaik University of Technology (BPUT) campus at Chhend Colony at a cost of around Rs 136 crore. It will co-host the mega sporting event along with Kalinga Stadium, Bhubaneswar. With a seating capacity 20,300, BMHS is equipped with world-class facilities and touted to be India’s largest hockey stadium.
The first match of India against Spain in Pool-D will take place at BMHS on January 13, 2023 at 7 pm. On the same day, the inaugural match would be played at 5 pm between England and Wales at the stadium.
Twenty of the total 44 matches will be played at BMHS from January 13 to 29.