It's a massive tournament for us: HI president Dilip Tirkey

With the Indian hockey team kickstarting its FIH Mens Hockey World Cup 2023 campaign against Spain at the Birsa Munda Stadium in Rourkela on Friday Hockey India president Dilip Tirkey said that it is a massive tournament for India and very rarely countries get a chance to host backtoback home World CupsEarlier India had hosted the World Cup in 2018 in Odishas BhubaneswarThe marquee Hockey event will be held in Bhubaneswar and Rourkela from January 13 to January 29India are placed in Pool D along with England Wales and SpainThe anticipation among hockey fans in India is at an alltime high as the Indian mens hockey team start their FIH Odisha Hockey Mens World Cup 2023 BhubaneswarRourkela campaign against Spain on Friday at the new Birsa Munda Hockey Stadium in RourkelaIn Rourkela the Birsa Munda Stadium is a testament to the efforts of Hockey India and the Odisha Government The stadium was built in a record time of 15 months The total capacity of the stadium is 20000 making it the largest allseater Hockey stadium in the world The Kalinga Stadium housed in the Kalinga Sports Complex in Bhubaneswar boasts worldclass facilities complete with a HighPerformance Hockey Centre The stadium will host 24 of the 44 matches including the finalsAlso readDefending Champions Belgium arrive in Odisha for FIH Hockey Mens World Cup 2023Hockey India president Dilip Tirkey shared his thoughts on the event and Indias chancesIt is a massive tournament for us A home world cup is always special and very rarely do you have backtoback home world cups If you see the facilities in Odisha they are superb We are looking forward to welcoming the world to Odisha and with COVID under control we expect packed houses for most games All India games are sold out and you will see packed stands When you have crowd support it automatically gives you a boost and it should be no different for India said Hockey India president Dilip Tirkey on Backstage with Boria showCaptain Harmanpreet Singh will have to lead by example as he is also Indias number one dragflicker His penalty corner conversion is going to be crucial for Indias chancesThey are massively important as you know We have some excellent drag flickers now but we need to ensure we get better and have a plan ahead Harmanpreet and Rupinder Pal have done superbly well for us and Gurjit has matured over a period of time But we need to get even better because good drag flickers can win you games Sandeep and Jugraj both were excellent but then you know what happened to them both and for a period we struggled Now we have got better again and we must ensure this is sustained said Dilip TirkeyA total of 16 teams Australia Argentina France South Africa Belgium Germany South Korea Japan the Netherlands New Zealand Malaysia Chile India England Spain and Wales will play for the Mens Hockey World Cup trophyIndia bagged a bronze medal in 1971 silver in 1973 and gold in 1975 having its last podium finish at the world cup nearly 48 years ago Graham Reid the Australian World Cup and Olympic medallist coaching the Indian side which is a blend of youth and experience will be hoping to have a fruitful campaign this time aroundThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever