Odisha Now a Global Hub of Hockey: Naveen

Bhubaneswar: Odisha has become a major centre of sports activities in the last few years. Today Odisha is known globally as a hub of hockey and we are going to host yet another edition of Hockey World Cup in 2023, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik said here today.

While presenting Biju Patnaik Sports Award to outstanding sports persons and coaches on the occasion of National Sports Day celebrated through Video Conferencing, the Chief Minister said, “Our legendary leader Biju Babu himself was a great sports person and promoted sports all along his life. We are now in the process of realising his dreams of making Odisha a buzzing centre of sports”.

“Sport is the symbol of youth power. It demonstrates energy, power, dynamism, team spirit and above all, an irrepressible desire for winning. A society that loves sport develops great potential for success in every other field”, Naveen said.

He said, “Odisha has become a major centre of sports activities in the last few years. Today Odisha is known globally as a hub of hockey and we are going to host yet another edition of Hockey World Cup in 2023”.

“Our focus is on the development of sports infrastructure and coaching facilities at grassroots level sports. Best of the coaches from across the World have been engaged in our high performance centres in various sports disciplines to provide top class coaching. I am sure; our sports persons will continue to excel in national and international sports and bring glory to the State in the coming years”, The CM stressed.

The world is going through a great crisis due to the Covid pandemic. The importance of sports and fitness has once again been highlighted by this pandemic. We wish to further promote sports to enhance the physical and mental health of our citizens in the State. More than the medals, sports and fitness activities should become a way of life in our society, he further stated.