The 15th edition of the FIH Hockey Men’s World Cup is about to get underway in Odisha, India, in just 8 days! India, specifically the state of Odisha, will be repeat hosts of a men’s World Cup for the first time ever. What makes hockey so popular in Odisha and India? What is the history of the Kalinga stadium and what are some of the features you can look forward to in the brand-new Birsa-Munda stadium? Find out here.

Kalinga Stadium, Bhubaneswar

The Kalinga Stadium, situated in Bhubaneswar in the state of Odisha, is one of the two venues for the FIH Odisha Hockey Men’s World Cup 2023. The stadium gets its name “Kalinga” from the historical region in the east of India of the same name, that encompassed the modern day state of Odisha in entirety, along with parts of two other Indian states: Andhra Pradesh and Chhattisgarh. The Kalinga Hockey Stadium is a part of the multi-purpose complex collectively referred to as Kalinga International Stadium, which also includes an 8-lane synthetic athletics track, various high performance centers, a football stadium, an Olympic swimming facility and plenty more. It currently houses resources for athletics, football, hockey, tennis, table tennis, basketball, volleyball, sport climbing and swimming.

Bhubaneswar is the largest city in the state of Odisha, India. It is the capital of Odisha and houses all the important state legislative structures. Bhubaneswar is dubbed the “Temple City” – a nom-de-plume earned because of the 700 temples which once stood here. It still boasts of a cluster of magnificent temples, constituting virtually a complete record of Kalinga architecture almost from its nascence to its culmination. The citizens of Bhubaneswar are well-known in the hockey world for the vast numbers they turn out in for the international hockey matches hosted in the city. Many players from various hockey playing nations also describe Bhubaneswar as their favorite place to play hockey due to the atmosphere created by the crowds.

The Kalinga Hockey Stadium has become a global hub of hockey for nearly a decade. The stadium which hosted its first major international tournament when it was awarded the hosting rights to the Champions Trophy in 2014. The success of the event prompted further action as the 2017 Hockey World League Finals saw the best 8 teams in the world converge in Odisha to play in front of packed audiences. A year later the Kalinga Stadium took center stage once again as the premier men’s hockey tournament: the FIH Hockey Men’s World Cup, was played in Bhubaneswar. Since then, the Kalinga Stadium has been the home of the Indian hockey team, with not only the men’s and women’s teams training in the stadium, but it is also where they have played their home matches during the FIH Hockey Pro League. In 2021, the FIH Hockey Men’s Junior World Cup was also played in the Kalinga Stadium.

Birsa Munda International Hockey Stadium, Rourkela

The Birsa Munda International Hockey Stadium, based in the industrial city of Rourkela in the western part of the state of Odisha, is one of the two venues for the FIH Odisha Hockey Men’s World Cup 2023. The stadium is named after Birsa Munda, a Indian tribal freedom fighter, and folk hero who spearheaded a tribal religious millenarian movement that arose in the Bengal Presidency in the late 19th century, making him an important figure in the history of the Indian independence movement.

Rourkela is one of the biggest cities in the state of Odisha, well known for being home to various industrial establishments, specifically large scale steel and mineral industries. The city also occupies a central position in the Sundargarh district, in the eastern hockey belt of the state of Odisha, that has produced scores of top hockey talents for India, including the former Indian skipper Dilip Tirkey, who is the most capped player in the history of Indian men’s hockey, and currently serves as the president of Hockey India. The aim is for the stadium to provide a much-needed boost to the hockey infrastructure in the district, paving the way for future stars who can get access to international standard facilities within their own region.

The Birsa Munda International Hockey Stadium is built on 15 acres of land at the Biju Patnaik University of Technology campus in Rourkela, which is often referred to as the “Steel City of Odisha”. The stadium will now replace the Kalinga Hockey Stadium as the largest stadium in Odisha, with its seating capacity of 21,000.

History of Hockey in Odisha

Odisha’s relationship with hockey dates back several decades. The mineral-rich state has produced over a hundred national players for the Indian team including Dilip and Ignace Tirkey, Lazarus Barla, Jyoti Sunita Kullu, Sunita Lakra among many others. The current Indian men’s and women’s national squads also include many Odisha players including Amit Rohidas, Shilanand Lakra, Deep Grace Ekka, Nilam Xess and Namita Toppo.

The Sundergarh district, a hotbed for hockey in Odisha, is well known for the “Khasi Cup”, started in the late 1980s in which villages compete against each other. Hockey in Odisha got a major boost in 1977, when Michael Kindo, a Jharkhand native who was part of the World Cup-winning Indian team from the 1975 World Cup, joined the SAIL Steel team in Rourkela and became its captain and then chief coach of SAIL hockey academy. Under his leadership, Odisha qualified for the semi-finals of the 1979 and 1980 men’s hockey nationals for the first and second time ever, giving hockey a profound lift in Odisha, whose effects are still being felt today.

In 1982, Peter Tirkey became the first player from Odisha to be selected for the national men’s junior team, and played in the junior boys World Cup. This prompted the Odisha government to establish the state-run Panposh sports hostel near Rourkela in 1985, and seven years later, the Sports Authority of India and SAIL set up hockey academies in Sundargarh and Rourkela. Odisha hasn’t looked back since then and its investment in hockey has led to national and international recognition for players from the state.

Over the past two decades the Odisha state government has also actively and heavily invested in international hockey, hosting various large scale multi-nation events like the FIH Hockey World Cup, FIH Hockey Men’s Junior World Cup, FIH Series Finals, FIH World League, FIH Champions Trophy and the FIH Hockey Pro League.

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