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President of the FIH and IOA Narinder Dhruv Batra attributed the Olympic hockey bronze medal won by the men’s team and a heartening performance by the women to the massive support provided by the state of Odisha.

He cited the significance of the achievement by quoting Prime Minister Narendra Modi who said that until the country wins one in hockey, it doesn’t feel we have won an Olympic medal.

“That the boys did it after 41 long years was only because of the support that Odisha and its CM Naveen Patnaik has given the game,” Batra stated.

He delivered the statement at a felicitation ceremony organized the Odisha government for the men’s and women’s teams and their support staff in Bhubaneswar on August 17.

The Indian men won the bronze medal beating Germany 5-4 at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics while the women went down fighting 3-4 to Great Britain to finish fourth.

Dr. Narinder Dhruv Batra: “Odisha’s support has made all the difference”. 

India have won eight Olympic gold, a silver and three bronze medals but the last podium finish occurred at Moscow 1980 when the men’s team won their last title.

“Odisha stepped in to support hockey in 2017 when everyone was running after cricket,” Batra said who then took time off his scripted speech and spoke from his heart.

The 64-year-old revealed he attended three India camps in his aim to play for the national team in the late 1970s. He said that the facilities and support by the Union Government and other departments remained more or less the same but Odisha’s involvement has helped Indian hockey greatly.

“The difference is that Odisha has provided vital support that has helped us hold about 60 tournaments including the national championships at the sub-junior, junior and senior tournaments and those for institutional and academy teams. Each tournament costs Rs 2.5cr for a total of Rs 80-90 cr. Thanks to the support of the Odisha government we were able to develop the pyramid of talent that will help us plan for the 2024 and 2028 Olympics,” he explained.

“The hockey teams were getting 70-80 percent of our funding from the Union Government and 20-30 percent from Hockey India for training and foreign tours etc,” he said.

“But Odisha’s support has made all the difference behind the elite teams and players that you see today and has made it possible to have 100 or so more players who are good enough to jump in and take their places.”

Indian hockey teams created a tectonic shift at Tokyo, with scintillating shows                    Photo: Seshadri Sukumar

“We can see the results now that have come about with Odisha’s love and support and we hope to build upon success with the aim of taking Indian hockey to the elite level where it actually belongs,” said Batra who referred to Bhubaneswar as the sports capital of India and Odisha a second home for him.

“The success by our men’s and women’s teams at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics holds a special place in the heart of the people of Odisha and that of the honorable Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik who has been at the forefront in the support of hockey the last few years. “Odisha is the home of Indian hockey courtesy his crucial support, not only in sponsoring the team but also providing infrastructure.

The iconic Kalinga stadium in Bhubaneswar has hosted events like the 2018 World Cup, the 2020 FIH Pro League, the 2017 Hockey World League and the 2020 Olympic Qualifiers and it gave the teams great exposure before the stern test in Tokyo,” Batra affirmed. “We now look forward to the 2023 World Cup to be hosted by Bhubaneswar and Rourkela where a stadium is being constructed to be one of, if not the, best in the world.”

Batra also praised Odisha’s support of other sports and affirmed it was vital to make India a global powerhouse. “The minimum level has been set and the graph can only go up ,” Batra said to a round of rousing applause.

Extracts from Dr.Batra’s speech delivered at the Govt of Odisha’s  Tokyo Hockey Olympians’ Felicitation Function, Bhubaneswar, 19th Aug 2021.