Rourkela, Dec 10 : Vice president Hamid Ansari today inaugurated the Biju Patnaik Rural Hockey Championship at Rourkela, organized by the foundation of former Indian Hockey Captain and BJD MP Dilip Tirkey.
Said to be the biggest sports event of the state so far the tournament is aimed at encouraging rural youth towards the sport and also to inspire youth living in bordering and Maoist affected areas by picking hockey sticks instead of guns. CM Naveen Patnaik and Union Minister Jual Oram also attended the event.
With an expectancy of 1500 teams with 22000 players from Odisha, Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand, the event is likely to get placed in the Guinness Book of World Records. The finals will be played in March.
For the visit of the Vice president the security arrangements have also been made quite elaborately.
