Bhubaneswar, October 7: A high-level delegation from the West Bengal Government led by Additional Chief Secretary (Youth Services and Sports) Subrat Biswas, visited Kalinga Stadium Complex here to study the sports ecosystem in Odisha.
The delegation, which comprised of officers from the Department of Youth Services and Sports and Public Works Department, were particularly interested to learn about the Hockey infrastructure set-up in the State, particularly the Kalinga Hockey Stadium in Bhubaneswar and Birsa Munda International Hockey Stadium, Rourkela.
The delegation was received by Odisha Hockey Promotion Council Chairman Dilip Tirkey, State Sports Secretary R. Vineel Krishna, Odisha Naval Tata Hockey High Performance Centre Director
Rajiv Seth and senior officials of the Odisha Sports Department.
Sports Secretary R. Vineel Krishna made a presentation on the rise of sports in Odisha and different sports initiatives of the State to the delegation.
The delegation conducted a detailed recce of the facilities at the Kalinga Hockey Stadium and visited the Odisha Naval Tata Hockey High Performance Centre that trains over 80 boy and girl cadets for the elite level and were taken through the set-up and operations by Rajiv Seth. Thereafter the delegation, 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.
The delegation also visited the major ongoing sports infrastructure projects, namely the Indoor Athletics Stadium, Aquatic Complex, Badminton High Performance Centre and the Sports Science Centre.
The visit culminated with the delegation spending time at the Athletics High Performance Centre, 10m indoor Shooting Range and the newly renovated Biju Patnaik Swimming Pool.
