Prime Minister Narendra Modi Wishes Team India Ahead of FIH Men's Hockey World Cup 2023

Indian Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi conveyed his best wishes to the Indian national hockey team ahead of the FIH Men’s Hockey World Cup 2023 scheduled to start on the 13th of January.

The premier took to the micro-blogging site Twitter to register a post that read “As the 2023 Hockey World Cup commences in Odisha, my best wishes to all the participating teams. May this tournament further strengthen the spirit of sportsmanship and may it further popularise the beautiful game of Hockey. India is proud to be hosting this tournament.”

Sixteen nations will fight to get their hands on the prized trophy at the end of the event as hosts India will try to emulate the success of the 1975 World Cup in Malaysia, where the men in blue clinched the title for the very first time in the country’s history.

India have been clubbed with England, Wales and Spain in Group D and will get their campaign underway on Friday as they take on Spain. The Bharat Army will face England on the 15th of January before they clash against Wales on the 19th of the same month.

The quadrennial showpiece will be held in Bhubaneshwar and Rourkela as India host the prestigious event for the second time on the trot following the previous edition in 2018 when Bhubaneshwar played the sole venue.

This is the fourth time India has played host to the biggest tournament in the world of hockey following 1982, 2010 and the 2018 editions of the competition.

The Kalinga Stadium, a state-of-the-art field in Odisha’s capital city will be the venue for the event along with the newly built Birsa Munda International Hockey Stadium in Rourkela.

Flights between the tournament venues, Bhubaneshwar and Rourkela, have been arranged at a fixed travel fare to improve the convenience of travel during the tournament.