Bhubaneswar emerging as new hockey hub of India

With a synthetic-turf hockey stadium ready for inauguration any day and a hockey academy to groom players for future national teams in the offing, Bhubaneswar, the capital city of Odisha, is all set to emerge as India`s new hub for the stick-and-ball game. Located inside the sprawling campus of the multi-discipline Kalinga Stadium, the 20,000-capacity hockey stadium would be best known for its blue-and-pink synthetic turf, which was introduced at the 2012 London Olympics.
``Eyebrows were raised when the blue-and-pink synthetic turf was used in London Olympics. But the surfaced proved to be the excellent. We are happy to have used a similar surface here,`` said hockey Olympian-turned-politician Dilip Tirkey, the brain behind the hockey stadium.
The water-based surface, made up of high-performance polyethylene resin is regarded as the world`s fastest pitch. The pink run-off areas and the blue playing zone are designed to improve viewing for players, officials, spectators and broadcasters.