Naveen announces Rs 10 lakh each for Odisha players in Hockey World Cup team

Rourkela: Ahead of the India-Spain clash in FIH Odisha Men’s Hockey World Cup today, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik announced Rs 10 lakh reward each for Odisha players participating in the team.

The cash reward was announced for two Indian players — Amit Rohidas and Nilam Sanjeep Xess — who hail from Odisha and are in the Indian team for the Hockey World Cup 2023.

Tokyo Olympic bronze medallist Amit Rohidas is also the Vice Captain of 18-member squad for the FIH Odisha Hockey Men’s World Cup 2023. With 127 caps, the defender is known as an alternative during penalty corners and he has cored 18 international goals so far.

Defender Nilam Sanjeep Xess has 30 international caps and 5 goals in his career. Hailing from Kadobahal village, a few km away from World Cup venue, he is likely to draw a huge crowd at the Birsa Munda Hockey Stadium in Rourkela.

It will be a proud moment for Sundargarh, the cradle of hockey’, when the two players get down to the middle of the ground wearing Indian colours. The crowd at Birsa Munda Hockey Stadium in Rourkela is surely going to get behind the Rohidas and Sanjeep Xess every time they receive the ball, a release from the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO) said.

Indian hockey full squad for FIH World Cup 2023

Goalkeepers: Krishan Bahadur Pathak, PR Sreejesh

Defenders: Jarmanpreet Singh, Surender Kumar, Harmanpreet Singh (captain), Varun Kumar, Amit Rohidas (vice captain), Nilam Sanjeep Xess

Midfielders: Manpreet Singh, Hardik Singh, Nilakanta Sharma, Shamsher Singh, Vivek Sagar Prasad, Akashdeep Singh

Forwards: Mandeep Singh, Lalit Kumar Upadhyay, Abhishek, Sukhjeet Singh

Alternate players: Rajkumar Pal, Jugraj Singh

Head coach: Graham Reid

The FIH Men’s Hockey World Cup 2023 kicked off on Friday with a match between Argentina and South Africa at 1 pm at Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar. India will lock horns with Spain at 7 pm today at Birsa Munda Hockey Stadium in Rourkela.

Total 16 teams are taking part in the international hockey event. The teams are divided into 4 groups — Pool A, Pool B, Pool C and Pool D. Each group has four teams. Team India alongside England, Spain and Wales are in Pool D. The final match of the World Cup is scheduled at Kalinga Stadium on January 29.

Here’s the complete schedule:

January 13:

Match 1 – Argentina vs South Africa – 1:00 PM IST – Bhubaneswar

Match 2- Australia vs France – 3:00 PM IST – Bhubaneswar

Match 3 – England vs Wales – 5:00 PM IST – Rourkela

Match 4 – India vs Spain – 7:00 PM IST – Rourkela

January 14:

Match 5 – New Zealand vs Chile – 1:00 PM IST – Rourkela

Match 6 – Netherlands vs Malaysia – 3:00 PM IST – Rourkela

Match 7 – Belgium vs Korea – 5:00 PM IST – Bhubaneswar

Match 8 – Germany vs Japan – 7:00 PM IST – Bhubaneswar

January 15:

Match 9 – Spain vs Wales – 5:00 PM IST – Rourkela

Match 10 – England vs India – 7:00 PM IST – Rourkela

January 16:

Match 11 – Malaysia vs Chile – 1:00 PM IST – Rourkela

Match 12 – New Zealand vs Netherlands – 3:00 PM IST – Rourkela

Match 13 – France vs South Africa – 5:00 PM IST – Bhubaneswar

Match 14 – Argentina vs Australia – 7:00 PM IST – Bhubaneswar

January 17:

Match 15 – Korea vs Japan – 5:00 PM IST – Bhubaneswar

Match 16 – Germany vs Belgium – 7:00 PM IST – Bhubaneswar

January 19:

Match 17 – Malaysia vs New Zealand – 1:00 PM IST – Bhubaneswar

Match 18 – Netherlands vs Chile – 3:00 PM IST – Bhubaneswar

Match 19 – Spain vs England – 5:00 PM IST – Bhubaneswar

Match 20 – India vs Wales – 7:00 PM IST – Bhubaneswar

January 20:

Match 21 – Australia vs South Africa – 1:00 PM IST – Rourkela

Match 22 – France vs Argentina – 3:00 PM IST – Rourkela

Match 23 – Belgium vs Japan – 5:00 PM IST – Rourkela

Match 24 – Korea vs Germany – 7:00 PM IST – Rourkela

Crossovers –
January 22:

Match 25 – 2nd Pool C vs 3rd Pool D – 4:30 PM IST – Bhubaneswar

Match 26 – 2nd Pool D vs 3rd Pool C – 7:00 PM IST – Bhubaneswar

January 23:

Match 27 – 2nd Pool A vs 3rd Pool B – 4:30 PM IST – Bhubaneswar

Match 28 – 2nd Pool B vs 3rd Pool A – 7:00 PM IST – Bhubaneswar

Quarter-finals –
January 24:

Match 29 – 1st Pool A vs Winner 25 – 4:30 PM IST – Bhubaneswar

Match 30 – 1st Pool B vs Winner 26 – 7:00 PM IST – Bhubaneswar

January 25:

Match 31 – 1st Pool C vs Winner 27 – 4:30 PM IST – Bhubaneswar

Match 32 – 1st Pool D vs Winner 28 – January 25 – 7:00 PM IST – Bhubaneswar

Semi-finals –
January 27:

Match 37 – Winner 29 vs Winner 32 – 4:30 PM IST – Bhubaneswar

Match 38 – Winner 30 vs Winner 31 – 7:00 PM IST – Bhubaneswar

3rd Place Match – January 29: Match 43 – Loser 37 vs Loser 38 – 4:30 PM IST – Bhubaneswar

Final – January 29: Match 44 – Winner 37 vs Winner 38 – 7:00 PM IST – Bhubaneswar