Odisha: The new ‘Mecca for Hockey’

With Men’s Hockey World Cup round the corner, Sports Science India Fanzine brings you how the eastern Indian state is gearing up for the mega event and an insight into Hockey World Cup’s history

Odisha is India’s best kept secret. That’s a passé now! The eastern Indian state has now become the most-sought after destinations for sports, especially Hockey. With the state set to host the upcoming Hockey World Cup in January for the second consecutive time, it has now turned as the ‘Mecca of Hockey’—a place where world comes to witness the grandeur of the international event. In such a scenario, the Odisha government is leaving no stone unturned to develop world-class infrastructure for the World Cup. Ahead of the mega event, SSI Fanzine takes a look at how’s Odisha getting prepared for the World Cup.

Odisha is playing host to the World Cup Hockey to be held from January 13 to 29, 2023. The matches of the grand tournament have been split between Bhubaneswar and Rourkela (two key cities in Odisha). For the purpose, India’s largest Hockey stadium is being built in Rourkela which has seating capacity for 20,000 spectators. Nevertheless, Odisha has become the first state to host two back-to-back World Cup Hockey tournaments in India where the event has been organised thrice, so far. 

The state successfully hosted the Odisha Hockey Men’s World Cup Bhubaneswar 2018 and hosted the FIH Men’s Series Finals Bhubaneswar Odisha 2019 in June. Odisha has previously hosted the Champions Trophy 2014 and the Odisha Men’s Hockey World League Final Bhubaneswar 2017. Kalinga Lancers, the team owned by the State, is the winners in the Hockey India League 2017. Taking a step further towards realising the dream of restoring the glory of Indian Hockey at the global level, the State is sponsoring the Indian Hockey Teams till 2023.

Infrastructure Boost: Budget outlay increases by 16 times

The World Cup matches will be played across four newly-laid pitches in the state-of-the-art Kalinga Hockey Stadium (Bhubaneswar) and Birsa Munda Stadium (Rourkela). According to senior state government officials, the main pitch in the Kalinga Stadium, as well as the practice pitch, has been re-laid. The Birsa Munda Stadium has brand new pitches certified by the International Hockey Federation (FIH). According to reports, the Odisha government has estimated to spend about Rs 1,100 crore for organising the tournament. In 2018, the government had invested only Rs 66.98 crore for hosting the last Hockey World Cup. However, the outlay has been enhanced by 16 times.

Know the pools

Pool A is headed up by current FIH World Rankings (WR) number one Australia, who got the bronze medal at the last World Cup in 2018. They will play 2016 Olympic Champions Argentina (WR:7), France (WR:11), playing their fourth World Cup, and African Champions South Africa (WR:14). In Pool B, reigning World Champions Belgium (WR:2) are the top seed and they were drawn to face 2002 and 2006 World Champions Germany (WR:4). Both European teams will face two representatives from Asia, namely Korea (WR:12) and Japan (WR:17).

Pool C will feature the finalists from the last edition, the Netherlands (WR:3), at the head of the group. They will come up against the other Oceania’s representative New Zealand (WR:9), Malaysia (WR:10), playing their ninth World Cup, and newcomers Chile (WR:23), participating for the very first time in a FIH Hockey Men’s World Cup. In Pool D, hosts India are the highest ranked side (WR:5). They will face England (WR:6), which they’ve recently met at the Commonwealth Games Birmingham 2022 for a thrilling encounter (4-4), two-time silver medallists (1971, 1998) Spain (WR:8) and Wales (WR: 16), who, like Chile, will play their maiden World Cup.

History of Hockey World Cup

In the 20th century, Hockey had an intricate bond with the Olympic Games. It was first introduced in 1908 London Games. But, the World Cup’s history is recent. It was first held in 1971.

In the initial years, Asian teams as India and Pakistan had dominated the sport. They had won 11 of the first 15 gold medals in men’s hockey at the Olympic games. However, in the late 60s and early 70s, it became popular worldwide. It started to grow, especially amongst the European nations. The introduction of the artificial grass surfaces brought in changes to the dynamics of the sport. The Asian teams struggled to modify decades-long style of their playing. The European teams found their footing on the surface swiftly.

The concept of a Hockey World Cup was born in 1969. The idea of a Hockey World Cup was first proposed jointly by India and Pakistan in an International Hockey Federation council meeting in March 1969. At the time, the World Cup was proposed as a biennial event. Pakistan Hockey Federation chief Air Marshal Nur proposed for the inaugural edition to be held in Pakistan. The proposal for the World Cup was accepted, but the inaugural edition was played in Spain.

Pakistan became the first winners of the FIH Hockey Men’s World Cup, beating Spain. They won 3 more Gold medals at the World Cup, becoming the most successful team in the Men’s World Cup history. Australia and Netherlands follow closely behind with 3 gold medals each. Germany is the next most successful team with 2 gold medals while India and Belgium have won 1 gold each.

Men’s Hockey World Cup: List of Medal Winners