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The Odisha government led by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Monday received the 'Best State for Promotion of Sports' award at an event here.
CM Patnaik received the award from the legendary cricketer Sunil Gavaskar. Accepting the award, the Chief Minister said his government feels that investment in sports is an investment in youth. "In Odisha, we have tried to do a great deal for hockey in the last few years - in the last 15 months, we have built the largest hockey stadium in the world. We believe investment in sports is an investment in youth and investment in youth is an investment in the future," Patnaik said. A release said that the recognition is a result of the state's unique sports model, which is built around the pillars of partnership for sporting excellence, competition, coaching, infrastructure and welfare schemes for meritorious athletes. Sportspersons from Odisha have brought laurels by winning medals at international and national competitions. FIH Odisha Men's Hockey World Cup 2023 held in Bhubaneswar - Rourkela garnered attention and admiration for Odisha in the sports fraternity, the release said. In 2022, Odisha hosted international competitions such as Odisha Open, SAAF U20 Championship, FIFA U17 Women's World Cup, FIBA 2022 (SABA Qualifiers), FIH Hockey Pro League, and National competitions such as Indian Women's League, Aquatic Junior Nationals, IWLF Youth Juniors and Senior National Weightlifting Championship 2022, Para Athletics Championship and Para-Badminton Nationals. The Odisha government under the leadership of Chief Minister Patnaik is also prioritizing the development of sports infrastructure in the state. It is committed to creating state-of-the-art facilities that can serve as a training ground for budding athletes, the release said. "The iconic Kalinga Sports Complex is one of the finest sports facilities in the country. Several mega sports projects within its premises including India's first Indoor Athletics Centre, Tennis Court, Indoor Aquatics Centre, Hockey High-Performance Centre and an elaborate Sports Science Centre are near completion and will play a significant role in developing champions of tomorrow for the country," it said. In Rourkela, the Birsa Munda Hockey Stadium was recently inducted into the Guinness book of world records as the largest fully-seated hockey stadium of the world. Despite an abundance of pandemic-induced challenges, the facility which also houses an Olympic-style Hockey Village with 225 rooms was built in merely 15 months. Similarly, to promote sports and fitness in society, Odisha is developing 90 multi-purpose indoor halls across all urban areas. These are complemented with a wide range of other sports infrastructure including swimming pool training centres, football training centres, hockey training centres and sports complexes. The event was hosted by Sportstar, a monthly English sports magazine. (ANI)
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