If P R Sreejesh shielded the goal with his life during India's bronze medal-winning match against Germany, there's another man who has played a silent role in guarding hockey's interests in the country.
Naveen Patnaik, the Odisha chief minister, patronised hockey at a time the game needed it the most. Naveen had been a goalkeeper for his Doon School hockey team. It is that early love that led to his support for the game, which sees Odisha sponsor the teams right from the junior to the senior levels, both men and women.
In 2018, when Sahara withdrew, Odisha signed a Rs 140-crore deal with Hockey India to sponsor the men's and women's teams for five years. That was also the year Odisha hosted the men's hockey World Cup, which it will again host in 2023 in Bhubaneswar and Rourkela, where the state government is building India's largest hockey stadium for an estimated Rs 120 crore.
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