Rourkela, 25 February 2024: A delightful finish to the India leg of the FIH Pro League 2023/24, saw the hosts register a 4-0 win over Ireland in front of a packed Birsa Munda Hockey Stadium on Sunday.
The match was graced by the presence of Mitrabhanu Mohapatra, IPS, SP Rourkela.
As 40 matches of high-voltage hockey unfolded across both men’s and women’s categories, the response from the passionate hockey fans from Odisha and around India was tremendous. Hockey fans were a pivotal part of what was yet another hockey spectacle in Odisha as they turned up in large numbers to support Indian teams, that featured local talents – Amit Rohidas, Sunelita Toppo and Jyoti Chhatri.
Indian Men’s and Women’s Hockey Teams were in action across both venues – Kalinga Hockey Stadium, Bhubaneswar and Birsa Munda Hockey Stadium, Rourkela between February 3 and 25. While the women’s team faced Australia, China, Netherlands and USA; the men’s team squared off against Australia, Netherlands, Spain and Ireland in their opening set of FIH Pro League season matches.
On successful completion of the FIH Pro League Odisha leg, Vineel Krishna, Secretary, Sports and Youth Services Department, Government of Odisha, expressed, “We are proud to have hosted the FIH Pro League yet another time. It is the passionate fans of Odisha who transformed it into a hockey festival by turning up in large numbers. I’m confident players would have also enjoyed a lot and we look forward to welcoming them again in future.”
Earlier in the day, Netherlands defeated Australia 5-3.
Additionally, on Saturday, February 23, the Hon’ble Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik inaugurated as many as 12 Hockey Training Centres across the rural and tribal areas of Odisha. With this, the state now has the highest number of 23 HTCs (Sundargarh-17, Sambalpur-2, Jajpur-1, Cuttack-1, Ganjam-1, and Bhubaneswar-1).
