Men’s, women’s hockey teams arrive in Odisha; sponsor state to felicitate them
The men’s team won a bronze, 41 years after it won a medal in the Moscow Olympics, while the women’s hockey team reached the semi final for the first time. The Odisha government signed a ₹100 crore deal with Hockey India in 2018 to sponsor both the teams for the next five years
The men’s and women’s hockey team of India that put up a sterling performance at the recent Tokyo Olympics landed in Bhubaneswar on Tuesday to a grand felicitation by Odisha government.
Sudarshan Patnaik’s sand art welcoming the hockey teams to Odisha. (HT photo)
{{^htLoading}} {{/htLoading}}
The men’s team won a bronze, 41 years after it won a medal in the Moscow Olympics, while the women’s hockey team reached the semi final for the first time. The Odisha government signed a ₹100 crore deal with Hockey India in 2018 to sponsor both the teams for the next five years.
On Monday, PM Narendra Modi had hosted the teams along with other Olympians at his official residence.
After landing at Bhubaneswar airport, the hockey teams were driven to a hotel in the state capital where they will stay for two days and felicitated. Chief minister Naveen Patnaik is likely to announce some cash prize for each of them during a felicitation ceremony in Kalinga stadium, said officials. In Puri, sand artist Sudarshan Patnaik installed a sand art on the beach, welcoming the teams to Odisha.
{{^htLoading}} {{/htLoading}}
{{^usCountry}}
Last week, CM Patnaik felicitated four men and women hockey players of the state and gave them cash awards. He gave cheques of ₹2.5 crore each to Indian men’s hockey team vice-captain Birendra Lakra and defender Amit Rohidas and ₹50 lakh each to Deep Grace Ekka and Namita Toppo of women’s team.
{{/usCountry}}
{{#usCountry}}
Last week, CM Patnaik felicitated four men and women hockey players of the state and gave them cash awards. He gave cheques of ₹2.5 crore each to Indian men’s hockey team vice-captain Birendra Lakra and defender Amit Rohidas and ₹50 lakh each to Deep Grace Ekka and Namita Toppo of women’s team.
{{/usCountry}}
Patnaik also handed Lakra and Rohidas offer letters for appointment as deputy superintendent of police in the state police department.
Odisha has hosted major hockey tournaments in the last few years, including World Cup in 2018, Champions Trophy in 2014 and Hockey World League Final in 2017. It would host the 2023 Men’s Hockey World Cup in Bhubaneswar and Rourkela where country’s biggest hockey stadium with a seating capacity of 20,000 is being built.
Debabrata Mohanty is a senior assistant editor of Hindustan Times who works as state correspondent from Odisha covering the state's politics, governance, public policy, natural disasters, environment and its society for close to three decades. With his long years of reporting from the state capital of Bhubaneswar, Mohanty has been known as one of the most experienced and credible journalists covering Odisha for the national English dailies. His reporting combines on-ground detail with deep institutional knowledge detailing the state's changing politics, governance issues, administrative reforms and the functioning of its public institutions. He has regularly reported on issues ranging from legislative developments and public policy implementation. Politics is his core areas of expertise as he closely tracks Odisha's political landscape, including the rise and transformation of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the Biju Janata Dal (BJD), the two principal political parties in Odisha. His long association with the state's political establishment enables him to write on contemporary developments in a larger political context. Mohanty takes a deep interest in writing human interest stories, environmental issues and documenting the impact of cyclones, floods, heatwaves, and other climate-related events in one of the most disaster-prone states. His coverage extends to public health, governance reforms and stories on accountability of government institutions. Before joining Hindustan Times, Mohanty worked with The Indian Express, Mail Today, and The Telegraph, where he covered at least six general elections and as many assembly elections. In 2007, he was selected for the prestigious Chevening Young Indian Print Journalist Programme at the University of Lincoln, United Kingdom, where he received advanced training in print journalism. In 2009 he won the Press Institute of India-International Committee of Red Cross award on conflict reporting for his on-ground reportage of 2008 Kandhamal riots.
