Bhubaneshwar (Odisha) [India], July 16 : The third edition of Odisha Naval Tata Hockey Grassroot League championships concluded with Hockey Kutra defeating Balisankara to emerge as champions in the boy’s category and Kutra defeating Gurundia in the girl’s category at the iconic Kalinga Stadium on Saturday.
Distinguished guests Sulochana Das, Mayor of the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC), Siddhartha Das, IAS, Director of Sports, Department of Sports and Youth Services, Government of Odisha, Padma Shri Dilip Tirkey, President of Hockey India, and Rajiv Seth, Project Director at the Odisha Naval Tata Hockey High-Performance Centre were all in attendance for the closing ceremony, as per a Sports Odisha press release.
The Odisha Naval Tata Hockey High-Performance Centre hosted the tournament in association with the Sports and Youth Services Department of Odisha. A total of sixteen teams with 256 players (128 and hundred and 128 girls) competed to be champions in the coveted five-day tournament held between June 11 and June 15.
From a total of 46 teams, more than 671 competitors competed in the first phase, which took place from June 4 through June 8, in an effort to be selected as one of the sixteen teams that would face off for the championship at the finals.
Talking about today’s successful conclusion Sulochana Das, Mayor of BMC said, "It is incredible to see the Odisha Naval Tata HPC promoting grassroots hockey with such a well-planned effort. I want to congratulate everyone who is here and has made it to the last stage of grassroots championships. It is incredible to see both the boys' and girls' teams take home the trophy, but what is more significant is to see the turnout and the numbers that have accompanied this tournament. I can promise you that they are our young talents, and I cannot wait to see them bring honour to India."
Out of a total of 23 hockey turfs, 17 hockey turfs have been built in Sundargarh Rourkela as part of Sports Odisha’s initiative to create top-notch training facilities for athletes.
Marking their victory in today’s final match, Smita Toppo, women's captain of team Kutra, said, "We enjoyed playing at the iconic Kalinga stadium. The atmosphere here has been great and hopefully, we keep visiting here for our next grassroot tournaments to keep continuing our winning stride."
Shedding light on the grassroot importance, Rajiv Seth, project director, Odisha Naval Tata Hockey High-Performance Centre, said, "I see this not only a wonderful opportunity for promoting grassroot hockey in the state but also something useful in the coming years for uplifting grassroot tournaments. All the teams who have participated in this grassroot league deserve our heartiest congratulations and support and we want to continue to grow together."
With teams from 20 Hockey Training Centres (HTCs), five of which are Grassroot Training Centres, both girls and boys participated in zones that included Kutra HTC, Gurundia HTC, Bamra HTC, HPC GR Dhenkanal, Rajgangpur HTC, Kuarmunda HTC, Subdega HTC, and Balisankara HTC (Saunamara) for the girls and Nuagaon HTC, Kutra HTC, Balisankara HTC (Saunamara), Chatrapur HTC, Rajgangpur HTC, Gurundia HTC, Subdega HTC, and Balisankara HTC (Tileikani) for the boys.
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