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The Times of India
The Times of India
Sport
TNN

Odisha promotes itself as the sports capital of India with huge investments

ROURKELA: Following the historic performance of the Indian men’s and women’s hockey teams at the Tokyo Olympics, the Odisha model of sports was hailed by all and sundry. The Odisha model attributes to the unique partnership between the federations, corporates and sportspersons with a common vision to achieving sporting excellence. This unique collaboration has been instrumental in the rise of sports and athletes in the state and has created a holistic ecosystem with exemplary and enviable sports infrastructure.

It started in 2014 when Odisha hosted the Hockey Champions Trophy. Thereafter, Odisha went on to host many international hockey events, including the historic Asian Athletics Championship in 2017, thus gradually bringing a paradigm shift in the way a state can adopt and support sports. In 2018, right before the men’s hockey World Cup, Odisha took a historic step to support and sponsor the national men’s and women’s hockey teams for five years, and the result was for all to see at the Tokyo Olympics. After four decades, the Indian men’s team brought home a medal – the bronze. There was euphoria in the country and it was a matter of pride that Odisha played a significant role in the revival of Indian hockey.

But this partnership was not restricted to hockey alone, but also gradually extended to rugby, swimming and Football. Odisha is also the only state to set up a bouquet of high-performance centres in disciplines including hockey, swimming, football, athletics, weightlifting, sports science, badminton in partnership with leading corporates likes the Tata Group, JSW Sports, Reliance, KJS Ahluwalia, Dalmia Bharat, Abhinav Bindra, Gagan Narang and Anil Kumble. Nowhere else in India will one see such an amalgamation.

Currently, close to Rs 2000 crore sports infrastructure projects are underway. This includes building India’s largest hockey stadium with 20,000 seating capacity for the men’s hockey World Cup 2023 from January 13 to 29 in Bhubaneswar and Rourkela. India’s first indoor athletics stadium is also coming up within the Kalinga Stadium sports complex which will be a hub for champions of the future. In a few months, Bhubaneswar will also co-host the FIFA U17 women’s World Cup from October 11 to 30.

Odisha government’s sports secretary, R Vineel Krishna, told TOI that currently there are 10 high-performance centres with the Kalinga sports complex. “Over Rs 300 crore worth projects are under construction at the Kalinga complex including the indoor athletics and aquatics stadiums, tennis centre, staff accommodation and hockey HPC building. To ensure adequate spread of sports infrastructure across the state, 89 multipurpose indoor stadiums are being developed. This Rs 700 crore project will have facilities for all kinds of indoor sports and allied facilities and benefit the local talent pool immensely while also promoting the culture of sports and fitness in the region,” he said.

The indoor athletic stadium is being built in Kalinga Stadium at a cost of Rs 120 crores and will be ready during the year 2022. The facility can host national and international indoor athletic events. The 2000-spectator seating athletics complex will boast 100 and 200 metres indoor running tracks, a dedicated pole vault facility along with shot put and high jump arenas. The facility, which will also consist of an anti-doping centre will also house the athletes. There will be a residential facility for more than 100 athletes for full-time coaching.

In addition to the existing tennis courts within the stadium, a tennis centre court is being constructed for hosting the national and international events. The center, built at a cost of Rs 20 crore, will have all facilities to conduct the ITF tournaments and Davis Cup.

The Hockey HPC will be completed in the coming months and will house the cadets and staff of the HPC. With adjoining practice pitch for training, it will transform to an elite academy for hockey.

The swimming pool complexes have been developed in several districts to promote it as a life skill and also a competitive sport. Indoor halls and sports academies also have been developed or upgraded to help nurture and groom the young talents.

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