Daily Pioneer: 3 S’GARH BOYS IN INDIAN TEAM FOR HOCKEY WORLD CUP
After three Odia boys from Sundargarh were named in the Indian men hockey team which will participate in the prestigious world hockey championship to be played at Bhubaneswar from first week of December, the mood among the sports lover of Sundargarh district is upbeat.
Significantly, while boys and girls from the State figuring in national hockey team has been a common practice, figuring three players from Sundargarh at a time in the Indian men hockey team has come after a gap of almost 13 years. In 2004 Olympics, three Odisha players like Dilip Tirkey, Ignace Tirkey and Wilium Xalxo had represented Indian men hockey team and after that representation of Odisha players has reduced to one or maximum two at one point of time.
The three Odia boys include two former inmates of Panposh Sports Hostel (PSH) Amit Rohidas and Deepsan Tirkey, besides Birendra Lakra. Lakra was a cadet of SAIL hockey academy, Rourkela.
Milton Bilung, Coach in-charge of PSH, said, “The inmates of the hostel are really happy for inclusion of Amit and Deepsan in the India senior team, who were doing well in Indian junior team since last couple of years.”
Similar is the situation in SAIL Hockey Academy, Rourkela, which groomed Lakra. Raju Kant Saini, Coach of SAIL Hockey Academy, congratulated the trio.