Bhubaneswar: As the Indian Men’s Hockey team clinched the Olympics medal for the first time in more than four decades, Odisha, which is the official sponsor of the national hockey teams, is celebrating the historic win.
Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has congratulated the Indian team for the spectacular victory, saying that this historic win will inspire generation of sportspersons. He also spoke to the family members of two Odia hockey players – Amit Rohidas and Birendra Lakra, who are part of the India Men’s Hockey team that defeated Germany to win the Bronze medal after the gap of 41 years.
Odisha, under the leadership of Naveen Patnaik, has made significance contribution to promote hockey. It is the first state in the country to have come forward to sponsor the national Men’s and Women’s teams. For a country obsessed with cricket, this patronization came at the right time. It has helped immensely in supporting the game at its difficult times.
The hashtag #OdishaCelebratesOlympicsGlory is currently trending on the micro-blogging site Twitter with netizens praising the contribution of Odisha Government in reviving the glory of hockey.
“The people of Odisha are proud that we have been helping both the national teams for a long time”, wrote a user.
“Odisha constantly helps the hockey teams in various ways”, posted another user.
“It is the result of the labour by the athletes and the sportsupportive government”.
“The man behind the glory. Silently works and let the success scream his name. Time to follow the Odisha model in sports. I hope more states would come forward to adopt one sport and sponsor the national team”, posted a Twitter user.
“The Odisha government has been contributing generously for the development of the game”.
“Odisha, under the leadership of Naveen Patnaik, gave a new lease of life to Indian Hockey”, expressed a user.
“Odisha’s continuous help has ensured improvement in efficiency of the Indian teams”.
“Proud to be an odia…yes my state sponsored our so called National Sports… No one have dare like Naveen Pattnaik”, writes another user.