On the auspicious occasion of Dhanteras, Chief Minister Raman Singh inaugurated the International Hockey Stadium named after Iron Man Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel in Raipur on Monday.
The stadium with world-class amenities was built in a record time of just four months at a cost of nearly `18 cr, officials stated. At the inaugural programme, the Chief Minister announced that a life-size statue of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel will be erected at the entrance of this International Hockey Stadium.
Chhattisgarh Assembly Speaker Gourishankar Agrawal presided over the inaugural programme and Member of lok Sabha Ramesh Bais, Sports and Youth Welfare Minister Bhaiyalal Rajwade, Agriculture Minister Brijmohan Agrawal, PWD Minister Rajesh Munat, Women and Child Development Minister Ramsheela Sahu, State Youth Commission Chairman Kamalchand Bhanjdev, Hockey India Chairman Dr Narendra Batra, and Chairman of Hockey Chhattisgarh Dr Anil Verma were also present as special guests of the occasion.
In his address to the programme as Chief Guest, Singh said that inauguration of International Hockey Stadium is a proud moment for youth and sports persons of the State.
He said that this is the third synthetic turf hockey ground of the State. Earlier, stadiums have been built in Rajnandgaon and in Science College of Raipur.
Singh said that although the facility of two pitches at one place is available in Punjab, Jharkhand, Kerala, Odisha and other states of the country, but Chhattisgarh is the first State of the nation to have built two stadiums of international standard at one place.
Now Chhattisgarh State is ready to host any hockey tournament of national or international level, he said.
Singh added that from upcoming November 27 to December 6, World league Hockey Competition will be organized on these grounds. Eight international teams will participate in this tournament and young sports persons of the State will get to learn a lot from this international hockey tournament.
Chief Minister also felicitated nine international hockey players of the State for their significant contribution in development of hockey in the State.
This included Ex-Olympian Vincent lakra, Shokh Gaffar, Saba Anjum, Neeta Dumre, Tanvir Jamaan, Renuka Rajput, Renuka Yadav, Mrinal Choubey and Balwinder Kaur.
On behalf of Sports and Youth Welfare Department, Singh gave away certificates to 10 sportspersons for their excellent performance in year 2014.This included Shakuntala Patel for Netball Anju Joshi for Basketball, Asita Dohre, Swami Vishwakarma, Indu Nishad, Munni Dewangan, Sheela Dewangan for Fencing, Radha Yadav for swimming (Paralympics) and Rohan Santiago and Dilip Vishwakarma for Soft Tennis.
The Chief Minister also honoured nearly 150 hockey players from various districts of the State. The programme was also addressed by Sports and Youth Welfare Minister Bhaiyalal Rajwade.
Singh gave away certificates to engineers and contractors concerned for completing construction of stadium in record time of four months while adhering to the quality standards as well.
Sports and Youth Welfare Department Secretary Dinesh Shrivastava delivered welcome speech and PWD Secretary Anil Rai presented the report. Meanwhile, Raipur Development Authority (RDA) Chairman Sanjay Shrivastava, Chhattisgarh Hockey Sangh Chairman Dr Anil Verma, State Industrial Development Corporation Chairman Chhagan Mundra, Principal Secretary, PWD, Amitabh Jain and a large number of sportspersons and sports-lovers were also present on the occasion.
Notably, preparations are already in full swing for staging of the World Hockey league final matches to be hosted in Raipur. The matches will be played from November 27 to December 6 this year.
This will be the first International Hockey event to be staged in Chhattisgarh. The Hockey World league Final will be an extremely exciting event with all eight teams qualified for 2016 Olympics.
This will be one of the last opportunities to test themselves against one another in international competition before they head out for Rio for the Games later next year, FIH President leandro Negre had stated on his visit to Raipur early last month.
He had stated that 'India has a strong connection with Hockey and FIH is delighted to be taking the showcase competition to the city that has shown a great desire to host International hockey tournaments.
“We have no doubt that the local organizers and the people of Raipur will put on a fantastic event for athletes, spectators and TV viewers around the world,” Negre said.