NV Sportive Angle by Dusmanta Behera
Hockey Association of Odisha emerged victorious over Hockey Haryana to claim the 14th Hockey India Senior Men National Championship title at the Mayor Radhakrishnan Hockey Stadium, in Chennai 2 days back.
How all it happenedÂ
In a thrilling final, Hockey Association of Odisha defeated Hockey Haryana 5-1. Rajat Akash Tirkey (11’) seized an early opportunity to give Hockey Association of Odisha the lead, scoring from close range after a clever move from Sudeep Chirmako inside the box.
Pratap Lakra (39′) then doubled the lead in the third quarter, converting a penalty stroke into a goal. In the fourth quarter, Shilanand Lakra (48’, 57’, 60’) scored three goals in the span of 12 minutes to ensure victory for Hockey Association of Odisha.
However Joginder Singh (55’) scored a consolation goal for Hockey Haryana in the final minutes of the game, by the time HAO confirmed the title. It was Odisha’s first Senior National title.
Hockey became Tribal’s first ChoiceÂ
Odisha’s hockey culture which was started in Sundargarh and the adjacent tribal lands for over a century, has a great interest in the tribal people. Christian missionaries and the British army in the late 19th century introduced hockey, which attracted Odisha’s tribal communities. As the tribal people were strong and agile, they remained fit to play this strenuous game for long hours.
To date a unique and interesting culture still prevails in Sundergarh. There is a tournament called Khasi cup being played within the village and the prize is Live animals. For that to watch people come to the ground as if they come to fair.
Naveen Patnaik’s SupportÂ
Odisha Government in 2018 gave sponsorship to the Indian Hockey team for 5 years. Naveen Patnaik’s immense interest, support to the team was a testament when India won a Bronze each at Tokyo and Paris Olympics to end the 41 year long medal drought.
Odisha was the main sponsor of both the Men and Women Indian Hockey team. It did not end there, as Ex Chief Minister of Odisha Patnaik made the largest hockey stadium(Birsa Munda International Hockey Stadium) in the world in Rourkela prior to the 2023 Hockey World Cup. And adding to the chapter Odisha won Gold in the Senior National Hockey Championship.
Cluster of gifted players
Now can you imagine how many players must be from the tribal belt in the Odisha Hockey Team? It’s unimaginable that 17 out of 18 players are from Sundargarh. Even a player from Odisha Cyril Lugun representing Manipur had a hat-trick to defeat Punjab in the Quarter-final.
It was really amazing to see Padma Shri Dilip Kumar Tirkey, President of Hockey India belonging to Sundergarh watching the Odisha Hockey Team’s great success from the stand. He has represented the country for the maximum number of games(412) internationally by any Indian and placed himself 4th in the all time international hockey players list.
Apart from DIilip Tirkey there are a numbers of players from tribal region who represented the country in big stages like Mickael Kindo, Slvans Dungdung, Ajit Lakra, Ignace Tirkey, Lazarus Barla, Prabodh Tirkey, Birendra Lakra, Jyoti Sunita Kullu and the list never ends. In the current winning team Shilanand Lakra who played 30 games representing India.
This Odisha team has an average age of 22 and two players from the list Shilanand Lakra and Nilam Sanjeep Xess represented India already. The future looks promising as young talents from the region are trying hard to showcase their skills. Coach Bijay Kumar, a veteran of Odisha hockey, dedicated the victory in the senior championship to the people for their love for the game.
