29 January, 2023 The final day of the FIH Odisha Hockey Men’s World Cup 2023 was played in the Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar as Germany were crowned the champions of the world, defeating the defending champions Belgium in a thrilling finals, where they went down by 2 goals early in the first quarter but fought their way back again and took the game into a shoot-out, where they held their nerves in the sudden deaths, winning 5-4. With the win Germany also claimed the top spot in the FIH Men’s World Outdoor Rankings. Earlier in the day Netherlands and Australia went head-to-head in the bronze medal match, where Jeremy Hayward gave them an early lead, but an incredible 3-goal burst in 8 minutes in the third quarter, with captain Thierry Brinkman scoring twice, gave Netherlands the lead that they would take to the end and win the bronze medal. With the win, followed by Belgium’s loss in the finals, Netherlands move up to the second position in the FIH Men’s World Outdoor Rankings, followed by silver medalists Belgium who are now ranked third ahead of Australia, who end the tournament ranked fourth. Bronze Medal Match: Australia vs Netherlands 1-3 Netherlands started the game on the front foot, with Theijs van Dam getting a powerful shot into the circle looking for a Dutch deflection, but Hoedemakers couldn’t get on the end of the cross and Australia survived an early scare. Australia started settling into the game midway through the first quarter and a pass into the circle by Jeremy Hayward found captain Zalewski open on the right of the goal, but his shot/cross went wide off the mark with Blake Govers missing a deflection from point blank range. Australia scored the opening goal of the game through Jeremy Hayward who scored his 100th goal in his 200th appearance for Australia. It was a double blow for the Dutch who had referred the penalty corner and lost their review early in the first quarter. Netherlands won their first penalty corner of the game in the 20th minute but Jip Janssen’s powerful flick went straight as an arrow and Charter managed to pull off a comfortable save to deny Netherlands from their first big chance since the opening minute. Both teams traded opportunities to close the opening half, with big chances falling to Koen Bijen for the Dutch and Blake Govers for the Kookaburras, but both star forwards were off targets with their running shots and the teams headed into the break with Australia holding a slender one-goal advantage against Netherlands. Netherlands started the second half with a high press, which was a tactic that worked quite well for Germany in the semi-finals. The ploy seemed to work well for Netherlands as well as they earned three quick penalty corners inside the first two minutes of the second half, and with the third attempt, Jip Janssen opened his account in the game with a powerful drag to the right of Charter to bring the teams level. Two minutes later, Netherlands were in the lead as a clearance attempt by Tim Howard was blocked by Wortelboer in the circle and the resulting loose ball was put into the goal by Dutch captain Thierry Brinkman. Australia started to press higher in search for an equaliser, but it was Netherlands again who capitalised with a quick counter as van Dam’s run from the half line produced a cross that found Brinkman unmarked at the back post and he made no mistake in doubling Netherlands lead. Australia entered the final 15 minutes needing to score at least 2 goals to keep their hopes of winning a medal at the World Cup alive. Their high press gave Netherlands a lot to do in defence, but Jorrit Croon, along with Blok and Jansen, were stellar in the Dutch defensive circle, stopping waves of Australian crosses into the circle. Netherlands believed they had scored the 4th goal of the game midway through the quarter with Koen Bijen knocking the ball into the goal on the back post, but a foul in the build up reversed the goal as Australia breathed a sigh of relief. But Netherlands continued their excellent defence and as time ran out, they ran out winners, earning their third bronze medal at the men’s World Cups. Captain Thierry Brinkman was awarded player of the match and said: “We were playing quite well in the first half but couldn’t convert our chances. We didn’t change anything in the second half, we were just better at converting our opportunities and the way we have played today and through the tournament, we deserve this bronze medal.” Gold Medal Match: Germany vs Belgium 3-3 (SO: 5-4) Germany took on Belgium in the finals hoping to win their 3rd gold medal at the FIH Hockey Men’s World Cups to go level with Australia and Netherlands and one behind Pakistan who have won the event 4 times; while Belgium aimed to become just the 4th team, after Pakistan, Germany & Australia, to defend their title successfully. Belgium started the game on the front foot, creating an early circle entry, but Tom Grambusch was alert to the chance and intercepted a cross right in front of the goal and cleared the danger. Germany won a penalty corner in the 6th minute, referring the original decision which had gone against them. The resulting penalty corner was well defended by first rusher Cosyns who blocked Gonzalo Peillat’s attempted flick. Belgium opened the scoring in the 10th minute as a long corner deflected high off a German stick and fell to Florent van Aubel at the top of the circle and he took the shot on in his stride and smashed the ball into the goal before Stadler could react! Less than a minute later Belgium had doubled their lead as a cross from the left deflected off a German stick and fell to Simon Gougnard who had to get the slightest of touches to put

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BHUBANESWAR: At 0-2 down in a World Cup final, comebacks need nerves of steel. Germany and Belgium took turns to show that in a test that refused to end, until Belgium died a ‘sudden death’, which gave the Germans a third Men’s Hockey World Cup title — first since 2006. It was Germany first who put the game on a knife’s edge by erasing a two-goal deficit to level it 2-2 and then go into the lead at 3-2. It was then the turn of the defending champions. They did it! The COMEBACK KINGS of #HWC2023 are crowned WORLD CHAMPIONS 💪 Insane scenes after the win #HockeyInvites #HockeyEquals #Germany #WorldCup @DHB_hockey pic.twitter.com/TSD1RGPkKo — International Hockey Federation (@FIH_Hockey) January 29, 2023   ON THE TOP OF THE WORLD 👑 Congratulate Die Homonas on their finale victory over #HWC2018 Champions @BELRedLions! FT: 🇩🇪 GER 3️⃣-3️⃣ BEL 🇧🇪(SO) 5️⃣-4️⃣#HWC2023 #GERvsBEL #HockeyComesHome #HockeyHaiDilMera pic.twitter.com/2tMHPq9hkE — Odisha Sports (@sports_odisha) January 29, 2023 The Red Lions’ refusal to give up earned them a penalty corner and Gonzalo Peillat once again came to the party to make it 3-3 and push the game into a shootout. Full Time: GER 3-3 BEL Shoot-out:BEL : ✅ ❌ ❌ ✅ ✅ ✅ ❌GER : ✅ ✅ ❌ ✅ ❌✅ ✅ GERMANY ARE THE CHAMPIONS OF THE WORLD! Germany get the better of the defending champions Belgium in the shoot-outs and win their 3rd FIH Hockey Men's World Cup title!#HWC2023 — International Hockey Federation (@FIH_Hockey) January 29, 2023   Niklas Wellen is your Player of the Match for scoring two penalties and a penalty corner to become World Champions 🌏🏆 🇩🇪 GER 3-3 BEL 🇧🇪 (SO 5-4)#HockeyIndia #HWC2023 #HockeyWorldCup #StarsBecomeLegends #GERvsBEL @CMO_Odisha @sports_odisha @IndiaSports @Media_SAI @DHB_hockey pic.twitter.com/6cdu9EJFsR — Hockey India (@TheHockeyIndia) January 29, 2023   But that wasn’t enough to give the 15th edition of the World Cup its winner. It remained 3-3 in the shootout as well, until Tanguy Cosyns missed for Belgium in sudden death to see the Germans, clad in black shirts, running towards goalkeeper Jean-Paul Danneberg. Had Belgium won, they would have been the fourth team to successfully defend the title after Pakistan (1978 and 1982), Germany (2002 and 2006) and Australia (2010 and 2014). The game of fine margins didn’t open that way. The Germans defended for most part of the first five minutes, until their first meaningful entry into the Belgian circle earned them a penalty corner after a video referral. But Peillat, who hit a hat-trick against Australia in the semifinal, wasn’t in his elements by then. His drag-flicks were sorted out by the Belgian rushers. It was the 10th minute when the Belgian ascendancy resulted in a goal. Tom Boon got a loose ball and went for a tomahawk, but the ball took a deflection from a German stick to go out for a long corner. Belgium didn’t waste time to restart, and Florent van Aubel managed to control a bouncing ball from Antoine Kina, which he slammed into the German post on the bounce. A minute later, Kina once again came up with an assist that turned into a goal. Cosyns placed himself beautifully at the end of Kina’s cross from inside the circle to cutely deflect the ball in behind goalkeeper Alexander Stadler to increase Belgium’s lead to 2-0.  Vanasch continued to keep the Germans at bay, coming up with brilliant saves, including a penalty stroke in the 19th minute. A push challenge from behind on Moritz Trompertz by Arthur van Doren inside the circle resulted in the referee awarding a penalty stroke. But Vanasch didn’t let Tom Grambusch’s attempt go past him. Four minutes after that, Marco Miltkau tried a cheeky deflection off a slap from the edge of the 23-yard line but it sailed harmlessly over Vanasch and the crossbar. Looking desperately for a goal before half-time, it was Niklas Wellen, who became a father during the tournament, provided that for Germany off a variation on a penalty corner. Controlling a ricochet that tapped twice on his stick, Wellen smashed it into the goal to make it 2-1. Belgium were down to 10 men in, when Nicolas de Kerpel was shown a green card in the 40th minute. The next minute the Germans took advantage and made it 2-2, with Peillat’s shot finally finding a way through on a penalty corner to sound the board.  And when Mats Grambusch pulled off a stunning goal out of nowhere from an acute angle in the 48th minute, the chants of ‘Belgium, Belgium’ from a small group of the Red Lions’ supporters were hushed. The Germans were now leading 3-2, after being down 0-2. The defending champions had no choice left than to pull out all stops, which is what they did to up the ante in the last five minutes.  Back-to-back penalty corners for Belgium put the German defence under pressure. And just when the Germans had one hand on the trophy, Boon deposited the ball into the net in the 59th minute to make it 3-3, which is what the score remained at the end of 60 minutes. The shootout extended to 14 attempts each from the customary five as the World Cup final required a sudden-death tie-breaker to find the winner.Belgian custodian Vanasch and Danneberg, who replaced Stadler in the German post for the shootouts, were now in focus and both did their job by saving two attempts each, which ended the shootout at 3-3 as well. Man-of-the-Match Wellen and Thies Prinz converted for Germany in sudden-death but only van Aubel could score for the defending champions. And when Cosyns failed to beat Danneberg, the 15th edition of the Men’s World Cup had its champion – Germany. List of Awards Fair Play Award: Team Belgium Maximum Team Goals: Netherlands Best Team Goal Celebration: Korea Fan’s Choice Award: Christopher Rühr (Germany) JSP Foundation Best Junior Player of the Tournament: Mustaphaa Cassiem (South Africa) Hero Top Scorer: Jeremy Hayward (Australia) JSW Best Goalkeeper: Vincent Vanasch (Belgium) Best Defender: Jeremy Hayward

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BHUBANESWAR: Captain Thierry Brinkman struck twice as Netherlands dished out a superb show of attacking hockey to beat world no.1 Australia 3-1 and clinch the bronze medal in the FIH Men’s Hockey World Cup on Sunday. Brinkman struck in the 35th and 40th minutes while penalty corner expert Jip Janssen scored the other goal for Netherlands in the 33rd minute. Australia’s lone goal came from their penalty corner expert Jeremy Hayward in the 13th minute. The bronze meant that Netherlands finished on the podium for the fourth time in succession and they are also equal with Australia on the maximum number of medals won in the showpiece event. Both Netherlands and Australia have now won 10 medals each in the 15 editions of the World Cup. The Dutch finished third in 2010 and runners-up in 2014 and 2018. They have won the title in 1973, 1990 and 1998. For three-time champions Australia, this was the first time they are returning home without a medal after they finished fourth in the 1998 edition. They had won a bronze in the last edition here. Australia dominated the first quarter of the third-fourth place match between the losing semifinalists with more circle entries while the young Netherlands side relied on counter-attacks. Blake Govers had a go at the Dutch goal in the seventh minute but his shot went wide. Four minutes later, captain Aran Zalewski also missed the target from a fine pass from a Hayward pass. The Kookaburras earned two penalty corners and took the lead from the second PC two minutes before the end of the first quarter with Hayward sounding the board for his ninth goal of the tournament. Netherlands, considered the most attacking side in the tournament, began to grow from the second quarter, which did not yield any goal, and Koen Bijen’s opportunistic attempt went just wide in the 22nd minute. Australia led 1-0 at the breather but the Dutch turned up a completely different side in the second half as they pumped in three goals in the third quarter. Captain Brinkman was at his absolute best, lording the midfield play, supplying the forwards and even scoring goals himself.  After Janssen struck from Netherlands’ fourth PC of the match, Brinkman scored two brilliant field goals in the 35th and 40th minutes to give his side a 3-1 lead.  The young Netherlands side were quick on counterattacks and on many occasions, the Australian defence was caught napping by the sheer speed of the Dutchmen. Brinkman’s second goal — and Netherlands’ third — though resulted from a defensive blunder from Australia’s Tim Howard, who failed to clear the ball from inside his own circle properly. Netherlands thought they had scored another goal seven minutes before the final hooter but the video umpire ruled otherwise.   Source: TIMESOFINDIA.COM | January 29, 2023

A cracker of a contest on the cards BHUBANESWAR: At the 2012 London Olympics, as the Germany hockey team celebrated their gold-medal feat, Belgium were on their way home, having finished fifth. The Red Lions went back to the drawing board. Over six years they reinforced their strengths, worked on their weaknesses and did not stop until they achieved their goal of being the best in the world. The skills. The goals. The last-minute drama. This is how we got here 🤯 The stage is set for the biggest game of all. Germany vs Belgium in the FIH Odisha Hockey Men’s World Cup 2023 🇩🇪🏆🇧🇪 Watch the #HWC2023 final tomorrow at 14:30 CET on the https://t.co/igjqkvzwmV app 📲 pic.twitter.com/Kt6dx4GIlx — International Hockey Federation (@FIH_Hockey) January 28, 2023 Germany, on the other hand, are still looking for a major championship title a decade later. From a country with virtually no hockey culture, the defending champions became the most talked about with World Cup (2018), European Championship (2019) and Olympic (2020) title triumphs. Belgium’s walk of champions began at the same venue in 2018 and they will hope to win their second title in as many appearances in the final. Come Sunday night at the Kalinga stadium here, the two teams will seek to stake claim for the FIH World Cup. The golden generation of Belgian hockey will eye a final hurrah and who better than the giant-killers from Germany to stand in their way. The teams have played tough semifinal matches. While Germany snatched victory from the jaws of defeat in the last seven seconds against Australia, Belgium showed nerves of steel to eliminate Netherlands. One more sleep ⏳⌛️#HWC2023 Final | January 29 | https://t.co/jG4WwmGdQe pic.twitter.com/KjSo38jkX8 — Watch.Hockey (@watchdothockey) January 28, 2023 There are many subplots to the stirring all-European contest, age being one of them. Belgium is the oldest team in the competition with 11 players above the age of 30. Five among the Germans feature in the 30+ category, six if you count their 39-year-old coach Andre Henning. But Felix Denayer and his Belgium team are no picture of ageing legs or aching limbs. They have outpaced and outplayed younger teams time and again. The finale will be won as much on tactics and technique as it will be on mental strength. Henning is aware of what his men are up against. “At the moment, they are the best team. We respect them for what they have achieved. I have coached them at the U-18 level and they were already the strongest team in Europe at that time so I saw this coming. We would like to stop them but I don’t think they are vulnerable or have any disadvantage, so it won’t be easy,” explained the German coach. One factor that could play on the mind of the Belgians is the momentum which favours Germany. Belgium weren’t really tested up until Netherlands almost ousted them. Germany has been like instant noodles. In their previous two matches, it’s taken them just two minutes to convert their undercooked performance to match-winning shows. Here is how the teams finished at #HWC2023:9th – 🇮🇳🇦🇷11th – 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿🇿🇦13th – 🇫🇷🇲🇾15th – 🇨🇱🇯🇵 More details on the classification here: https://t.co/9XCLnbCRIE (2/2)@TheHockeyIndia @ArgFieldHockey @SA_Hockey @HockeyWales @FF_Hockey @hockeymalaysia @chile_hockey @jha_hockey pic.twitter.com/bmsgiScb3L — International Hockey Federation (@FIH_Hockey) January 28, 2023 Germany’s spirit is not lost on Belgium’s coach Michel Van Den Heuvel, who knows how the slow starts can turn the match on its head in a few seconds. “As a natural character Germany are able to finish well. There is an old saying in Holland, you always win from the Germans when they are on the bus.” The match promises to be a great advertisement for hockey with the starry line-ups. Belgium’s citadel is well protected with Vincent Vanasch under the bar. Tom Boon, has been the live wire and their top-scorer while the likes of Arthur Van Doren, Victor Wegnez, John-John Dohmen and Arthur de Sloover are all match-winners. Source: TIMESOFINDIA.COM | January 29, 2023

Bhubaneswar, 29 January: In a ceremony held on the eve of the FIH Odisha Hockey Men’s World Cup 2023 Bhubaneswar-Rourkela final, FIH President Tayyab Ikram presented the FIH President’s Award to Mr. V.K Pandian, Secretary (5T) to the Hon’ble Chief Minister of Odisha, for his outstanding contribution to hockey. “What we have witnessed here in Odisha in the last 2 weeks is truly exceptional! Not only the state-of-the-art facilities but also the passion showcased by the Odisha people for hockey – as much for the Indian team as for the others – has been an absolute delight to experience. Together with Hon’ble Chief Minister of Odisha Naveen Patnaik, Mr. Pandian has played a pivotal role in making this World Cup such a resounding success globally! I’m very honored to present him the FIH President’s Award as a mark of deep gratitude from FIH and myself for his personal support and that of the State of Odisha”, the FIH President stated. On receiving the prestigious award, Mr. Pandian said: “I am deeply honoured and humbled to receive the FIH President’s Award. I am not the recipient of this Award, I am only the representative of Team Odisha which has put its heart and soul in making this World Cup a grand success. We are inspired by the vision of Hon’ble Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik”. Hockey India President Dilip Tirkey said: “I have seen the contribution of Mr Pandian over last two decades towards the field of sports, especially hockey. Since he himself is a sports person, he understands the requirements and always strive to provide the best facilities for the sportspersons. His role is most critical in translating into reality the vision of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik to make Odisha as a major sports destination”. The FIH President’s Award recognises individuals or National Associations or other organisations for valuable services to hockey, whether direct or indirect, or initiatives which have had a significant effect on hockey at international level.

It was a venue and crowed befitting a World Cup final as 20 000 fans packed into Rourkela to watch South Africa and India play for a top 10 spot at the global showpiece. The game marked the 200th game for Mandeep Singh, a remarkable achievement. The African Champions will be disappointed by their slow start to the game and found themselves trailing five minutes in. Abishek received the ball at the top of the circle, created space with his first touch and fired a blistering strike into the backboard. The crowd were superb in supporting every foray forward by the host nation and their players were clearly buoyed by the support. They continued to furrow forward and found themselves a penalty corner which was smashed home by Harmanpreet Singh. South Africa settled into the game and were unlucky not to pull a goal back when Bili Ntuli hit the outside of the goal post. South Africa consistently broke up play and tried their best to get a goal back, while Gowan Jones was on form whenever he was called on. South Africa had three penalty corners as they pushed the Indian defense and continued to ask questions. But despite the circle entries, the clear-cut chances were limited outside of the penalty corners as the game trudged its way to the end of the third quarter. But just before the hooter ending the third quarter Shamsher Singh peeled off the back of the defenders and tapped in unmarked on the back post. They made it 4-0 with an instinctive finish by Akashdeep Singh early in the fourth quarter before the outstanding goal of the game arrived. It was however from the stick of the South Africans. An overhead ball to Samkelo Mvimbi was brought down brilliantly and he roofed the ball superbly. South Africa continued to search for a second, but India scored on the counterattack. South Africa would have the opportunity for a last laugh as Mustapha Cassiem stood up and finished a sensational stroke. That would be that and the game would end 5-2 to the Indians who ended a disappointing World cup on a high. For the South Africans and 11th place finish, above their ranking of 14th shows the continued progress being made.   Source: SAHockey.co.za | January 28, 2023

The final day of classification matches of the FIH Odisha Hockey Men’s World Cup 2023 were played in the Birsa Munda Hockey Stadium in Rourkela as Argentina and India registered wins to end their campaigns in the 9th position, while Malaysia and France finished on wins as well, ending their campaigns in the 13th position. Losses for Wales and South Africa, saw them finish 11th, while Japan and Wales ended their campaigns in 15th place. Match 1: Malaysia vs Japan 3-2 Malaysia struck early in the battle of the two Asian teams as a penalty corner won by Ashari was scored by Shello Silverius with Malaysia opting for a variation as Razie Rahim pushed the ball wide for a deflection that beat the post defender and goalkeeper. Both keepers were immense in the first quarter saving attempts that looked like they were destined to find the goal. Malaysia captain Marhan Jalil was shown a yellow card in the second half as the team had 12 players on the field and Japan took advantage earning 2 penalty corners and scoring from the resulting side out after the Malaysian rusher had chased down the second penalty corner. Japan and Malaysia traded goals early in the 32nd minute with Seren Tanaka scoring for Japan, and Shello Silverius scoring his second of the game for Malaysia, to keep the teams on level terms. Two minutes later Malaysia were back in the lead as Faiz Jali found Irfan all alone in the circle on the left and his flat snuck under the Japanese keeper. Japan had a good spell of pressure to end the third quarter but couldn’t make it count, not finding the mark from 3 penalty corners. Japan tried to find an equaliser in the final quarter and received a boost when Malaysia were reduced to 10 players with Najmi Jazlan receiving a yellow card, but the experienced pair of Razie Rahim and Marhan Jalil kept Japan out brilliantly as Malaysia edged them for a narrow win. Shello Silverius was awarded player of the match and said: “We wanted to finish higher than this overall but for today we wanted to end this tournament on a high and we dedicate this win to our supporters back in Malaysia.” Match 2: Chile vs France 2-4 Chile were coming into the game on the back of two big losses, but showed a lot of heart early in the contest to take the game to France. They created circle entries but the French deep defence held strong to stop the Chilean attackers from getting their shots away. France primarily looked to capitalise on counter attacks with Chile leaving plenty of space behind their last line of defence. France opened the scoring on one such counter through Eliot Curty and added two more in quick succession through Victor Charlet to stun Chile. Chile kept coming at France and pulled a goal back from a penalty corner of their own, with Franco Beccera getting on the scoresheet to go into the half-time break down 1-3. The third quarter followed a similar pattern to the first as Chile pressed high in search of a goal while France defended deep and looked for counter attacking opportunities. France scored first in the second half as a cross by Xavier Gaspard deflected off the keeper’s boot and snuck into the goal. Chile scored one of their own as a long cross from the left found Andres Pizzaro completely unmarked in the back post and he tapped the ball into an empty goal. Chile’s push for another goal went until the final whistle, but while they created plenty of circle entries, they lacked the final shots at the end of it and the game finished at 4-2. Victor Charlet was awarded player of the match and said: “It’s always good to finish with a win. Our target was making quarterfinals and we didn’t make that, but at least we ended the tournament with a good performance.” Match 3: Argentina vs Wales 6-0 Before the game Wales coach Daniel Newcombe said that playing in the 9th/11th place game was a great achievement for the team in their debut campaign but they wouldn’t be happy with just that and wanted to end the campaign with a win. The Welsh team answered their coach’s call and started the game with a lot of attacking intent. Argentina were stifled for the first quarter as Wales dominated possession in the Argentine half, but they couldn’t find the goal to cap off a great quarter. Argentina were much improved in the second quarter and scored early through Lucas Toscani. They added a second when Martin Ferreiro’s cross from the left side of the circle was inadvertently deflected into his own goal by Joan Wall, to give Argentina a 2-goal lead going into the break. Argentina set the tone early in the third quarter with Agustin Bugallo scoring an absolute ripper on the reverse from the top of the circle. And soon they added a fourth from a penalty corner as Santiago Tarazona pounced on the rebound from the initial save and tapped the ball into the goal. Welsh shoulders started to drop, as despite the competitive nature of the game, Argentina had played the big moments well and put the game beyond the European debutants. Maico Casella, who has been Argentina’s best player in the World Cup added a 5th goal for the Leones and Ferreiro scored his second to make it 6 in the final quarter. Martin Ferreiro was awarded player of the match and said: “It’s a great feeling to win two games back to back, even though we didn’t meet our targets overall. You take two big wins on the trot to wrap up a World Cup.” Match 4: South Africa vs India 2-5 India took on South Africa in their final game of the FIH Odisha Hockey Men’s World Cup 2023, in front of yet another packed crowd in the Birsa Munda Hockey Stadium

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On 16 January 2023, the International Hockey Federation (FIH) announced that Krzysztof Glodowski (Poland) and Saurabh Vinayak (India) were the lucky winners of the contest organised by FIH and its Global Partner Odisha, where all fans around the world were invited to try their luck, through a simple draw, and win a trip – for two people – to Odisha during the FIH Odisha Hockey Men’s World Cup 2023 Bhubaneswar-Rourkela. The contest winners Krzysztof Glodowski and Saurabh Vinayak arrived in Bhubaneswar, Odisha on 23 January, along with their guests, Krzysztof’s wife Stefania Glodowska and Saurabh’s mother Rakhi Vinayak, and have been thoroughly enjoying the immersive sporting and cultural experience in the eastern state of India. The sporting experience has been unparalleled, watching the best teams in the world play their FIH Odisha Hockey Men’s World Cup 2023 matches at the Kalinga stadium in Bhubaneswar. The group were in the stands as Australia, Belgium, Germany and Netherlands played pulsating hockey, and qualified for the World Cup semi-finals, and as Belgium and Germany won their respective semi-finals and qualified for the finals. During the non-match days in Bhubaneswar, the group has also stayed busy, experiencing the delights that the decked-up city of Bhubaneswar has to offer. Starting with Olly Land that has been a huge hit with local as well as travelling hockey fans, the quartet visited many local attractions, including the international food festival and Ekamra Haat, with visits planned to local temples including the Lingaraj temple on 28 January. On 26 January the group also travelled to Konark and Puri, two popular tourist destinations 70 kilometres south of Bhubaneswar. In Konark they visited the Sun Temple, which is a Hindu worship site of the Sun God “Surya”. The temple which has stood the test of time, was built in the year 1250 CE, is recognised as a UNESCO heritage site and remains a major pilgrimage site for Hindus, who gather there every year for the “Chandrabhaga Mela” around the month of February. Following the visit to Konark the group travelled to Puri, a coastal city hugely popular with tourists from all over the world. The city is known for its pristine beaches, along the shores of the Bay of Bengal sea. After a stroll across the Puri beach the group then visited the Jagannath temple in Puri. The Jagannath Temple is an important Hindu temple dedicated to Jagannath, a form of Vishnu – one of the trinity of supreme divinity in Hinduism. The present temple was rebuilt from the tenth century onwards, making it one of the oldest temples in India. Apart from further culturally immersive experiences in Odisha, the group of lucky winners will also watch the finals of the FIH Odisha Hockey Men’s World Cup 2023, before they depart on 30 January, with a lifetime of memories. FIH would like to thank Odisha state for their hospitality and for their help in making this trip a unique and extremely memorable experience for our lucky winners.