[Watch] Grand Welcome For National Hockey Champions Odisha After Winning Maiden Title

Bhubaneswar: A day after scripting history, the Odisha men’s hockey team returned home to a tumultuous welcome on Sunday.

Having beaten former champions and heavyweight opponents Haryana 5-1 in the final at Chennai’s Mayor Radhakrishnan Stadium, the Odisha contingent flew in to Bhubaneswar’s Biju Patnaik International Airport where they were received by cheering schoolchildren and officials of the state association.

Drummers played the dhol as the players walked out of the airport terminal with their prized possession.

They gleefully posed for pictures with the trophy for the national hockey championship, which they won for the first time.

Following the reception at airport, the squad was driven in an Odisha Tourism bus to the Kalinga Stadium complex, where Minister for Sports & Youth Services Suryabanshi Suraj was waiting to receive them.

The minister congratulated the players and support staff for shaping Odisha’s historic triumph.

Department of Sports and Youth Services secretary Bhaskar Sarma felicitated the players and support staff who were taken around at the Kalinga Hockey Stadium.