Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik lauds performance of Indian hockey players at Olympics

Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has expressed his merriment over the Indian hockey (men and women) team's performance at the Tokyo Olympics and wished both teams his best wishes and hoped they bring back laurels for the country. 

Team India's performance at the Tokyo Olympics has been a watershed moment for Indian hockey with the women's team making it to the semifinals of the Olympics for the first time in history while the men's team made it to the semifinals for the first time since 1972. 

Speaking to the media, Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik recalled the state's contribution to Indian hockey and pointed out that the state had been involved in organising most major hockey events including the 2018 World Cup, World League and Olympic qualifiers.

"Congratulations to the India hockey teams. The boys and girls have made us all proud at the Tokyo Olympics. We have seen some spectacular hockey skills by our teams. Odisha has been partnering with Hockey India over the past few years. Our objective has been to bring back the glory of Indian hockey. Odisha has organised all the major tournaments including the Hockey World Cup in 2018. Bhubaneswar has become home ground for our teams. I am happy that all the efforts have started bearing fruit and we have seen some great results in this Olympics," the Odisha CM, reports ANI.

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The State of Odisha is also currently working on the construction of a new world-class facility at Rourkela with the stadium set to be ready before the World Cup in 2023 which it would co-host along with Bhubaneswar. Naveen Patnaik also reiterated that the state of Odisha will continue its support to the game. 

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Indian men will take on world champions Belgium in the semifinal while Indian women will face Argentina 

Two interesting contests are on the cards when the Indian hockey teams (men and women) take part in the Tokyo Olympics hockey semi-finals. Team India (men) will square off against Belgium who comes into the fixture beating Spain 3-1 while team India (women) will lock horns against Argentina who make it to the semi-finals defeating Germany 3-0. 

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(Image credit: ANI/PTI)