Bhubaneswar: The Odisha Assembly on Tuesday unanimously passed a resolution to extend congratulations to the Indian women and men’s hockey teams for their performance at the Tokyo Olympics.
The resolution, moved by Sports minister Tusharkanti Behera, stated that the Indian men’s team won the bronze medal. The team showed great resilience, skill and fitness. After 41 years, the team won a medal at the Olympics defeating the leading hockey playing nations in the world.
“The Indian women’s team performance was beyond all expectations. They showed great fighting spirit. Even though they couldn’t win a medal, they won the hearts of the nation,” the minister said.
“On behalf of the House, I extend my greetings and congratulations to the Indian women and men’s hockey teams for their historic successes at the Tokyo Olympics and wish them more glory and laurels in the coming days,” the minister added.
“It’s a matter of pride for all of us that Odisha has been recognised as the force behind the success of the Indian teams. Never before in the history of the state, Odisha was praised so much across the country,” the resolution stated.
“The strategic decision of the chief minister to partner with Hockey India and sponsor the Indian teams and organise all major tournaments in Odisha including the Hockey World Cup 2018, led to this great success for the country,” Behera said.
Stating that Odisha will continue to support development of hockey in India, he said the chief minister has taken another historic step by announcing to support Indian hockey for 10 more years.
“The state will organise the Men’s Hockey World Cup in January 2023 and India’s largest Hockey Stadium is being built in Rourkela for the mega event,” he added.
