Bhubaneswar: With nine days to go for the FIH Odisha Hockey Men’s World Cup, the Netherlands team arrived in Bhubaneswar Wednesday.
The Men’s Hockey squad of the Netherlands reached Biju Patnaik International Airport here and was accorded a warm welcome at the airport.
The tournament will be held in Odisha from January 13 to January 29.
The Indian squad was the first to reach Odisha December 27. Currently, it is busy with its practice session at Birsa Munda Stadium in Rourkela.
Three-time champions of the Men’s Hockey World Cup, the Netherlands team is placed in Pool C, along with Malaysia, New Zealand, and Chile.
The Netherlands will play its first match against Malaysia at Birsa Munda Stadium in Rourkela January 14.
Talking to reporters, Netherlands captain Thierry Brinkman said, “We are very happy to be here, we have good memories …Four years ago, played a really good tournament. Hopefully, we will play well in this tournament as well.
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“The crowd here is very friendly, we have some really good teams in this tournament, like Belgium, Australia, India, Germany, and Argentina. … We are also a strong team…So looking forward to a good tourney”.
Netherlands coach, Jeroen Delmee, said “We are looking forward to playing against India in the finals”.
Meanwhile, several teams of police personnel visited OYO hotels and lodgings under Kharvel Nagar, Capital, Laxmisagar, Sahidnagar, Chandrasekharpur, and Khandagiri police limits here.
During the inspection, the police personnel checked the registers, functioning of CCTV cameras, facilities in the rooms, as well as security systems.
A total of 20 matches will be played at the Birsa Munda Hockey Stadium in Rourkela. It has a seating capacity of over 20,000.
The Kalinga Hockey Stadium in Bhubaneswar which has a seating capacity of over 15,000, will host 24 matches.
