How Odisha’s Rs 150 crore guess performed its half in India’s historic Olympic hockey bronze

By Express News Service

BHUBANESWAR: It was round 8.40 am and there was palpable pressure within the air. With seconds to go earlier than the ultimate whistle, Germany was awarded a penalty nook with the rating line studying 5-4 in India’s favour. It may have gone both means however the stout Indian defence thwarted the ultimate risk and it was historical past.

The entire of Odisha broke into celebration because the Indian males’s hockey workforce bagged a bronze on the Tokyo Olympics ending a 41-year drought of medals on the sport’s largest platform. Two of the workforce members Birendra Lakra and Amit Rohidas are from Odisha.

In Bhubaneswar, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik who has been intently following the workforce’s progress into historical past, referred to as up the Men in Blue and provided his congratulations. “The whole of India is excited, as is Odisha, of course,” an elated Naveen instructed the workforce members over a video name.

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Amit and Birendra, the 2 gamers who have been a part of the history-making hockey workforce, thanked the CM in return and mentioned they’re ecstatic.

“We all are behind you and wish you all the best,” the Chief Minister added saying he was wanting ahead to greeting the workforce in Bhubaneswar on August 16.

Some time later, Naveen referred to as up relations of each Birendra and Amit, spoke to their moms and mentioned he was extraordinarily completely happy that the boys performed such good hockey and introduced laurels to the nation.

For Naveen and Odisha, the Indian hockey workforce’s historic feat is particular. It was his authorities which not solely bolstered hockey infrastructure within the state but additionally threw its weight behind the revival of the game within the nation. Breaking new floor, in 2018, the Odisha authorities determined to sponsor each the boys’s and girls’s nationwide hockey groups. The authorities pledged Rs 150 crore for sponsoring the groups for 5 years.

The Chief Minister and his administration’s particular curiosity in selling hockey began in 2014 when it floated Kalinga Lancers, a workforce that performed the Hockey India League. Jointly promoted by Odisha Industrial Infrastructure Development Corporation, a state-owned PSU, and Mahanadi Coalfields Ltd, the workforce was step one within the making of historical past.

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Under his management, the state authorities organized the Champions Trophy and rebuilt the Kalinga Stadium because it sought to deliver the main focus in addition to curiosity of the nation again on hockey which was dropping its recognition.

In 2018, the state authorities hosted the FIH Men’s Hockey World Cup and by no means regarded again because it performed host to World League, Pro-League and Olympic qualifiers and lots of extra tournaments.

After changing into the primary state in India to sponsor the nationwide hockey groups, the Naveen Patnaik authorities once more bid for the 2023 Hockey Men’s World Cup which might be performed each in Bhubaneswar and Rourkela. For the marquee event, the state is developing a brand new world class hockey stadium at Rourkela which would be the largest in India with a seating capability of 20,000 folks. The state authorities has made a provision of Rs 90 crore for the stadium.

It can also be constructing a number of different sports activities infrastructure moreover 17 astro-turf pitches in Sundargarh.

“The Odisha government’s continuous support has ensured stability in performance of the Indian teams. Both the men’s and women’s teams have been excelling and the performance has been brilliant in the Olympics so far,” mentioned an official supply. Besides Birendra Lakra and Amit Rohidas within the males’s workforce, Deep Grace Ekka within the girls’s workforce is from Odisha. Interestingly, each the Indian males’s and girls’s groups had booked their Olympic qualification at Kalinga Stadium right here.

Meanwhile, Sports and Youth Services Minister Tusarkanti Behera additionally congratulated the boys’s workforce and likewise wished good luck to the Indian girls’s workforce for the upcoming bronze medal match

“The Odisha Chief Minister played a big role in the historic achievement. The Odisha government has been the sponsor of both the Indian men’s and women’s hockey teams since 2018 and has invested around Rs 150 crore”, he mentioned including the state reworked the Kalinga Hockey Complex into a global venue.

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