A couple of days ahead of the commencement of the Odisha Hockey Men’s World Cup, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik met captains of all 16 teams of the tournament and participated with them in a photo shoot on Monday. The photo session was held at the Mukteshwar Temple here with Patnaik standing at the middle of the 16 skippers near the World Cup trophy.
The opening ceremony of the sporting event will be held on Tuesday at the Kalinga Athletics Stadium here. Music maestro AR Rahman, Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan and actress Madhuri Dixit are slated to perform at the programme. The tournament starting from November 28 will witness the 16 top teams battle for supremacy in front of hockey-crazy spectators at the iconic Kalinga Stadium. Host nation India grouped in Pool C will face off against South Africa on November 28, play Belgium on December 2 followed by their last pool match against Canada on December 8.