By Our Correspondent
BHUBANESWAR: The Trophy Tour of the FIH Odisha Hockey Men’s World Cup 2023 officially kicked off on Monday in Bhubaneswar with Chief Minister of Odisha Naveen Patnaik handing over the trophy to Hockey India President Dilip Tirkey.
Wishing the trophy tour a grand success, Chief Minister Patnaik said. “I hope the Hockey Men’s World Cup Trophy Tour will build excitement for the World Cup across India. We will be hosting 16 teams and the matches will be played in Bhubaneswar and Rourkela.
I am sure it will be a memorable World Cup for the teams and the fans the CM added.Minister for Sports and youth services Tusharkanti Behera, Secretary General Hockey India Bholanath Singh, Commissioner-cum-Secretary Sri R. Vineel Krishna, Executive Director Hockey India Mr Srivastava and officials and hockey players were present on this occasion.
The trophy will travel across 13 states and one Union Territory before returning to Odisha on 25 December, thus giving the fans and public a chance to engage with the5 December, 2022 prestigious trophy before the winning team lifts it.
In the next 21-days the trophy will journey across West Bengal, Manipur, Assam, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana, New Delhi, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka and Chattisgarh.
Once back in Odisha, the Hockey Men’s World Cup Trophy will tour across all the districts. The trophy will also visit the 17 blocks of Sundargarh which is famed for being the cradle of Hockey. The last leg of the tour will be in Rourkela before finally returning to Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar where the finals will be played on 29 January 2023.
