The 15th edition of the FIH Men’s Hockey World Cup in Odisha is just eight days away. The hosts are leaving no stones unturned to make it a tournament to remember, as far as organisation is concerned. The matches will be held simultaneously in Bhubaneswar and Rourkela. So, what is the history of the Kalinga stadium and what are some of the features you can look forward to in the new Birsa Munda stadium? Read on:
Birsa Munda International Hockey Stadium, Rourkela
The Birsa Munda International Hockey Stadium in the industrial city of Rourkela in west Odisha, is one of the two venues for the FIH Odisha Hockey Men’s World Cup 2023. The stadium is named after Birsa Munda, the tribal freedom fighter and folk hero who spearheaded a tribal religious millenarian movement that arose in the Bengal Presidency in the late 19th century, making him an important figure in the history of the Indian independence movement.
Rourkela is one of the biggest cities in Odisha, known for large-scale steel and mineral industries. The city also occupies a central position in the Sundargarh district, in the eastern hockey belt of Odisha, that has produced scores of top hockey talents for India, including the former Indian skipper and current Hockey India president Dilip Tirkey.
The Birsa Munda International Hockey Stadium is built on 15 acres of land at the Biju Patnaik University of Technology campus in Rourkela. The stadium will now replace the Kalinga Stadium as the largest stadium in Odisha, with its seating capacity of 21,000.
Kalinga Stadium, Bhubaneswar
The Kalinga Stadium gets its name from the historical region in the east of India of the same name, that encompassed the modern-day Odisha in entirety, along with parts of Andhra Prade sh and Chhattisgarh. The Kalinga Stadium is part of the multi-purpose complex collectively referred to as Kalinga International Stadium, which also includes an 8-lane synthetic athletics track, various high performance centres, a football stadium, an Olympic swimming facility and more. It currently houses resources for athletics, football, hockey, tennis, table tennis, basketball, volleyball, sport climbing and swimming.
The Kalinga Stadium hosted the Champions Trophy in 2014. The 2017 Hockey World League Finals saw the best eight teams in the world converge in Odisha. A year later, the stadium took centrestage once again as the FIH Hockey Men’s World Cup was played in Bhubaneswar. Since then, the Kalinga Stadium has been the home to the Indian hockey teams. In 2021, the FIH Hockey Men’s Junior World Cup was also played in the Kalinga Stadium.
