Bhubaneswar: Lathikata Hockey Training Centre (HTC) girls and Kuarmunda HTC boys emerged champions in the 5th Odisha Naval Tata Hockey Grassroot League Championship 2025.
In the girls’ final, Lathikata HTC secured a thrilling 2-1 victory via the shootout over Gurundia HTC, after the teams were tied 1-1 in regulation time at Kalinga Stadium.
Bamra HTC bagged the bronze medal after edging out Bargaon HTC 1-0.
The boys’ final also witnessed an exciting, hard-fought contest which Kuarmunda HTC won 5-3 at the expense of Nuagaon HTC.
Saunamara HTC clinched the bronze with a 5-1 victory over Rajgangpur HTC. Not surprisingly, all four teams are from Sundargarh district, the cradle of hockey in Odisha.
Organised by the Odisha Naval Tata Hockey High-Performance Centre (ONTHHPC) in collaboration with the state government’s Department of Sports & Youth Services (DSYS), the tournament involved a state-wide qualifying process with 67 teams.
Sixteen teams – 8 boys and 8 girls — qualified for the final phase which was held at the Kalinga Stadium from July 8 to 12.
Former India hockey captain Prabodh Tirkey graced the final day, along with Director of Sports & CEO of Hockey Promotion Council of Odisha Deepankar Mohapatra, Director Human Resources at Odisha Mining Corporation Alok Kumar Pal and renowned hockey personalities including Olympian Sunita Lakra.
