Bhubaneswar, Sep 2 (Hockey news) An Australian delegation led by its High Commissioner to India Barry O'Farrell visited the Kalinga Stadium here to oversee the existing sports facilities.
O'Farrell accompanied by Rowan Ainsworth, Australian Consul-General in Kolkata and Amy Keough, First Secretary, Australian High Commission visited the stadium on Wednesday. They were received by Dileep Tirkey, Chairman, Odisha Hockey Promotion Council, R Vineel Krishna, Secretary Sports and Youth Affairs department.
On Tuesday Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik and the Australian High Commissioner to India agreed on better coordination on mining exploration and sports infrastructure development in the state. The Australian delegation also visited the Odisha Naval Tata Hockey High Performance Centre that trains over 100 boy and girl cadets for the elite level. He interacted with the cadets and coaches.
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O'Farrel also visited the sports science and rehabilitation centre – the Odisha Abhinav Bindra Targeting Performance Centre, where Centre Head Pradeep Pillay demonstrated the bio mechanics and the assessment techniques used to assist athletes to better their performance.
Later, they visited the Hockey High Performance Centre and Kalinga Hockey Stadium, which has hosted some of the finest international hockey tournaments including the Men’s Hockey World Cup 2018 and will be again hosting the same in 2023.
Interacting with the cadets, the Australian High Commissioner said: “Odisha Government has developed remarkable facilities and is investing not only in infrastructure but also in each one of the cadet to develop them into elite players.” Wishing them the very best, he added that he would look forward to seeing each one of them play on the world stage in the future.
News source: PTI
