Rare Opportunity: Odisha Hockey Teams To Compete In Malaysia Meet

Bhubaneswar: Odisha’s junior hockey teams will be travelling to Malaysia to take part in an international tournament.

The U-14 and U-17 men’s and women’s teams will vie for glory in the 1st National Hockey Development Program (NHDP) international tournament to be held in Kuala Lumpur from November 26 to December 3.

“This is the first time any state team would be travelling to compete in an international tournament.” Odisha Sports tweeted.

The tournament, to be played in league-cum-knockout format, will feature teams from Japan, Singapore and hosts Malaysia.

The Odisha teams comprises of players from Sports Hostel, Rourkela, and Odisha Naval Tata Hockey HPC.

Odisha Hockey Promotion Council chairman Dilip Tirkey expressed happiness that a state hockey team is getting an opportunity to compete at the international level.

“Such instances were unheard of during my playing days… It clearly shows the commitment of the Odisha government to develop the game and make sure that the future international stars of Indian hockey come from Odisha. It would be a great exposure trip for our players and a great preparatory tournament for the upcoming Hockey India National Championships in 2023,” Tirkey said.