2023 Hockey World Cup tournament will be held in Odisha: Naveen

Bhubaneswar, 27/11: Following the successful organization of Hockey World Cup at Bhubaneswar in November-December last year, the next international event will also be held in Odisha in 2023. It was announced by chief minister Naveen Patnaik at the function held at Kalinga Stadium here this evening to commemorate the completion of one year of the international event here. The president of International Hockey Federation Dr Narendra Batra, who was present on the occasion, praised the Odisha government for successfully hosting 2018 Hockey World Cup. The chief minister also today released a documentary film on 2018 Hockey World Cup and a coffee table book This time the matches will be played in Bhubaneswar and Rourkela, which have been eventually declared as smart cities. India was a bidder along with Belgium and Malaysia for hosting the 2023 Hockey World Cup. But India came out victorious in the series round. Hockey India selected Odisha as the venue and the Odisha government as the partner for this international event. Hosting the World Cup tournament consecutively twice and also at the same venue is a record in the history of Hockey World Cup. Sundargarh district, where Rourkela is located, is adjudged as one of cradle lands of Hockey. It is learnt from official sources that chief minister Naveen Patanik had suggested to select Rourkela as the second venue and Hockey India Federation accepted it. Meanwhile, Naveen has laid the foundation stone of the hockey training centre in Sundargarh. A modern hockey training turf will be laid there, which is not there even in Europe, said these sources.