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.

BHUBANESWAR: India’s campaign in the Men’s Hockey World Cup ended with a second consecutive win in the placement playoffs at the Birsa Munda Hockey Stadium in Rourkela on Saturday. Fans in Odisha once again took every available seat in the 20,000-capacity stadium to stand with the home team in what has been an otherwise sorry campaign for India, who beat South Africa 5-2 to end in joint-9th position along with Argentina. It’s the worst ever finish by a host nation in a men’s World Cup. India broke its own record of an 8th-place finish in Delhi 2010, which it held jointly with Malaysia (Kuala Lumpur 2002) and Argentina (Buenos Aires 1978). As it happened: India vs South Africa Like against Japan, India dominated the South Africans as well. But while Japan’s open play allowed the Indians more turnovers and chances to score, the Africans looked focused on their defensive structure, until Samkelo Mvimbi scored the first of SA’s two consolation goals in the 49th minute, followed by Mustaphaa Cassiem converting a penalty stroke in the 60th. India’s opening goal came off the stick of last-match hero Abhishek. After his two goals against Japan, Abhishek put the hosts ahead as early as the fifth minute. Here's a glimpse of how team India ends the FIH Odisha Men's Hockey World Cup Bhubaneswar-Rourkela journey in style. ❤️ 🇿🇦RSA 2-5 IND🇮🇳#HockeyIndia #HWC2023 #HockeyWorldCup2023 #StarsBecomeLegends #RSAvsIND @CMO_Odisha @sports_odisha @IndiaSports @Media_SAI @SA_Hockey pic.twitter.com/cFjEngroRC — Hockey India (@TheHockeyIndia) January 28, 2023 Skipper Harmanpreet Singh’s return to form on drag-flicks saw him providing India a cushion in the 12th minute.  The scoreline remained 2-0 for the next 33 minutes, which painted a story of hits and misses, with the number of India’s circle entries increasing but not the number of goals.  It was in the 45th minute that Shamsher Singh made it 3-0. India's valiant efforts pay off as they secure a win over South Africa in the final showdown. 🇿🇦RSA 2-5 IND🇮🇳#HockeyIndia #HWC2023 #HockeyWorldCup2023 #StarsBecomeLegends #RSAvsIND @CMO_Odisha @sports_odisha @IndiaSports @Media_SAI @SA_Hockey pic.twitter.com/M63dTt9a65 — Hockey India (@TheHockeyIndia) January 28, 2023 The last 15 minutes were the most entertaining of the four quarters. It saw four goals, starting with two in the 49th minute, when Akashdeep Singh made it 4-0 and Samkelo then cut that down to 4-1 for South Africa. Sukhjeet Singh restored the four-goal lead with India’s fifth strike in the 59th minute, but a strong challenge by goalkeeper PR Sreejesh in the circle saw the visitors being awarded a penalty stroke in the last minute, which Cassiem converted to end the game at 5-2. Source: TIMESOFINDIA.COM | January 28, 2023

BHUBANESWAR: Defending champions Belgium beat the last two editions’ runners-up Netherlands in penalty shootout 3-2 to set up a summit clash against Germany in the FIH Men’s World Cup on Friday. Reigning Olympic champions Belgium and the Dutch were locked 2-2 in regulation time at the Kalinga Stadium. The match between the oldest side, Belgium, and a young Dutch team was contested equally, but the more experienced defending champions ran away winners in the shootout. Belgium have 11 players over 30 years of age, while the Netherlands have eight players below 25 and just two above 30. The Red Sticks, who have come with almost the same set of players that won the Tokyo Olympics gold, are among the fittest and most experienced sides. Star striker Tom Boon (27th) and Nicolas de Kerpel (45th) scored for Belgium in the regulation time while penalty-corner expert Jip Janssen (12th and 36th) struck a brace for Netherlands. In the first semi-final, star drag-flicker Gonzalo Peillat struck a second half hat-trick as Germany made a sensational comeback after being two goals down to beat Australia 4-3 and enter the final for the fifth time. Peillat scored from penalty corners in the 43rd, 52nd and 59th minutes while ‘Player of the Match’ Niklas Wellen (60th) struck with just a few seconds left in the match to stun Australia, who squandered a 2-0 half-time lead in a dramatic semi-final. Jeremy Hayward (12th), Nathan Ephraums (27th) and Blake Govers (58th) scored for Australia, who will now play for the bronze medal on Sunday. This was two-time champions Germany’s first entry into the final after the 2010 edition in New Delhi where they had finished runners-up. They had won silver in 1982 before winning titles in 2002 and 2006. Germany also took revenge for their 1-3 loss to Australia in the Tokyo Olympics semifinal. For three-time champions Australia, this was their second consecutive failure to enter the final. They had lost to the Netherlands at the same stage in 2018, finishing with a bronze after consecutive titles in 2010 and 2014. Australia were leading 2-0 till the 42nd minute and it looked like they would run away with the match. But the three drag-flick goals from Peillat, who has played more than 100 matches for Argentina and won the 2016 Rio Olympics gold for the Las Leonas before becoming a German citizen, changed the complexion of the game. In the second semi-final, Jip Janssen gave the Dutch the lead in the 12th minute from the side’s second penalty corner as he sent a low drag flick past Belgium goalkeeper Vincent Vanasch. The Netherlands were doing most of the attack with Floris Wortelboer making a fine run into the Belgium circle but his cross from the baseline could not find anybody near the goalmouth.  Belgium struck back three minutes before half time with their star player Tom Boon scoring from a penalty corner as the scoreline read 1-1 at the breather. Younger and hence faster on their feet, the Dutch once again took the lead in the third quarter with Janssen completing his brace from a penalty corner. Captain Felix Denayer had two hits at the Dutch goal in the 43rd minute in a wave of attacks but goalkeeper Pirmin Blaak blocked both of them.  It was end-to-end stuff for a while and Belgium equalised just when a few seconds were left in the third quarter, with Nicolas de Kerpel firing a field goal. In a dramatic fourth quarter, Boon wasted a penalty stroke in the 50th minute with Blaak bending down to his right to block the shot.   Source: TIMESOFINDIA.COM | January 27, 2023

Germany and Belgium are the finalists of the FIH Odisha Hockey Men’s World Cup 2023, registering wins in closely contested semi-finals against Australia and Netherlands respectively. Australia and Netherlands will play in the bronze medal match, followed by the finals between Germany and Belgium on 29 January, at the Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar, Odisha. Match 1: Australia vs Germany 3-4 Australia came racing off the blocks winning a penalty corner inside the first minute of the first semi-final against Germany. But Hayward’s drag flick was well saved by Stadler to prevent Germany from starting the game on the back foot. Germany settled into the game and tried to play out of the back with long aerial balls. Mats Grambusch found the best chance of the opening 10 minutes as Prinz received the ball on the left and passed it to the German captain at the top of the circle, but his shot hit the turf before hitting the ball and the chance was gone. Less than a minute later Australia were ahead as Hayward’s drag flick pierced the German defence from a penalty corner conceded by Mats Grambusch. Germany were dominant in the second quarter, launching wave after wave of attacks, with Prinz finding a lot of space on the left flank. Germany managed to win 3 penalty corners through the first 20 minutes that were referred by the Australians and overturned. Jake Harvie was the best player in the opening half for the Kookaburras frequently thwarting German attacks once they got inside the circle. On Germany’s 12th circle entry, Prinz forced a save from Charter and Australia launched a counter from their left side and Nathan Ephraums got on the end of a cross from the left to deflect the ball in as Australia ended the half up 2 goals, despite Germany dominating most of the attacking stats. Germany started the second half just as they had ended their first. They won an early penalty corner but Charter saved and the resulting play was blown as a penalty stroke for Germany, but Australia reviewed again and the decision was overturned! Australia had a huge chance midway through the third quarter as a counter attack from Australia allowed Whetton to run at the circle with just Stadler to beat, but Stadler sensed the danger and came rushing out and tackled Whetton but crucially got the ball with his stick to keep Germany in the game. Germany continued peppering the Australian circle and won five consecutive penalty corners, with Peillat finally converting on the 5th to bring Germany back in the game and setting up an exciting final quarter. Germany had comfortably been the dominant team in the 2nd and 3rd quarter and they kept the pressure up in the 4th. Tom Craig earned himself an unnecessary green card while Australia were in the attack and Australia had 2 crucial minutes to survive being a player short. Germany won a penalty corner with a little over 8 minutes left in the game and a high drag flick by Peillat hit Charter’s stick and went into the goal to wild German celebrations as they completed a 2-goal comeback for a second straight game. Australia started to find space in the midfield as Germany reduced the inensity of their press. The Kookaburras won a penalty corner with a little over 2 minutes to go and Blake Govers hit the target to give Australia a crucial lead. Less than a minute later Germany were back level again as Peillat completed his first hat-trick for the Honamas to bring them level again. With less than a minute left Germany looked like they were content to take the game to a shoot-out, but space in the center of the field opened up and Trompertz looked to take advantage. A deliberate foul by Tom Craig earned him a yellow card with just 12 seconds to go and Peillat’s ball across the circle bobbled off two Australian sticks and fell to Wellen, who had an open goal to tap the ball into, winning the game for Germany with just 6 seconds left on the clock and sending them to the finals of the World Cup! Niklas Wellen was awarded player of the match and said: “This team is unbelievable. We hadn’t played well against England until the final 5 minutes. Today was much different, despite being 2 goals down in this game too. And then going down 3-2 in the final 2 minutes and managing to not just draw but also win the game in 60 minutes is just incredible from our boys.” Match 2: Belgium vs Netherlands 2-2 (SO: 3-2) Belgium faced Netherlands in the finals rematch from the 2018 Men’s World Cup and while Belgium retain a major part of their core from that campaign, only 4 Dutch players in the squad playing in the semi-finals were part of the team that won silver at the 2018 World Cup. Belgium had the first clear chance of the game as a missed trap by Reyenga allowed Tom Boon to get into the circle with a chance to shoot, but Lars Balk nicked the ball off him before he could get his shot away. Koen Bijen who starred in the quarterfinals for the Dutch won the first penalty corner of the game and nearly scored it via a deflection, but his shot was just wide off the target as Belgium survived the first big chance of the game. Netherlands won the second penalty corner of the game as well and this time it was Janssen who took it on and his slinging flick low to the right of Vanasch thudded against the backboard and gave the Dutch a deserved early lead. Netherlands continued to probe in the second half while Belgium looked for counter attacking opportunities. The Dutch had a good opportunity midway through the quarter, as Brinkman received the ball just outside the Belgian circle, but the Dutch captain couldn’t bring the ball fully under his

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