Our Correspondent
Imphal, Dec. 7 (EMN): The trophy tour of the upcoming 2023 FIH men’s Hockey World Cup which started in Bhubaneswar on Monday, arrived in Imphal for the first time in the Northeast on Wednesday.
After its arrival at the Bir Tikendrajit International Airport near here on Wednesday, a welcome ceremony was held at the Khuman Lampak hockey stadium in Imphal in the afternoon wherein Manipur Governor La Ganesan unveiled the trophy in the presence of ministers Govindas Konthoujam(Sports), Nemcha Kipgen(Industries),H Dingo(Social Welfare), Manipur Olympic Association President Dr. Th Radheshyam and Manipur Hockey President Khoirom Loyalakpa.
Welcoming the trophy, Governor Ganesan said, “Being an Indian, I feel proud to know that India is hosting the World Cup 2023 to be played at Odisha in January next year.”
“The Northeast is slowly inching up in the field of sports and I am glad to say with Manipur leading in the region, we should build up on our strengths so that we can become world beaters,” he said.
Manipur has so far produced seven Olympians, 19 international players and two Arjuna awardees in hockey alone. Manipur has so far produced 19 Olympians since Los Angeles Olympics in 1984.
At the end of the day’s welcoming ceremony ,Manipur Sports Minister Govindas Konthoujam and Manipur Hockey President Khoirom Loyalakpa handed over the trophy to Assam team led by Member secretary Gritartha Goswami of State advisory committee(Sports , Students and Youth welfare) and Hockey Assam secretary Tapankumar Das.
Imphal in Manipur and Guwahati in Assam are the only two cities in the entire Northeast, where the trophy will be kept for a day.
The 21-day tour will see the trophy move across 13 states including Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana, New Delhi, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, and Karnataka, before finally returning to Odisha on December 25, after which, it will go on a tour across all the districts of the host state. The trophy is currently travelling to Manipur after touring West Bengal.
The tour officially kicked off on Monday with Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik handing over the trophy to Hockey India President Dilip Tirkey in the state capital.
The FIH Hockey Men’s World Cup 2023 will be played from January 13 to the 29th. Host India, who are placed in Pool D, along with Spain, England, and Wales, will open their campaign against Spain on January 13.
Australia, Belgium, Netherlands, India, Argentina, Germany, New Zealand, England, France, Korea, Malaysia, Spain, South Africa, Japan, Chile, and Wales are the 16 teams, who will be competing in the tournament. The Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar will host the final on January 29.