Hockey India announces cash prize to boost morale of men's team ahead of World Cup 2023

Rourkela (Bhubaneswar) [India], December 28 (ANI): The Indian men's hockey team are eyeing a historic campaign at the FIH Odisha Hockey Men's World Cup 2023 Bhubaneswar-Rourkela in January and in a bid to motivate them further, Hockey India on Wednesday announced cash prizes for the team and the support staff.
The National Governing Body for hockey will reward the members of the Indian team led by Harmanpreet Singh with INR 25 lakh each for a gold medal-winning feat at the prestigious quadrennial event while the members of the support staff will be honoured with INR 5 Lakhs each. India last stood on the World Cup podium in 1975 where they lifted the coveted title beating Pakistan in the Final held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

A Silver medal would see the players walk away with INR 15 Lakhs while the support staff would be awarded INR 3 Lakhs for their role in the campaign. And a Bronze Medal feat by Harmanpreet and Co will see them being awarded INR 10 Lakhs each, while the support staff would be entitled to a prize of INR 2 Lakhs.

The aforementioned decision was made by the Hockey India Executive Board in a virtual meeting on Saturday 24 December 2022 as a way to further boost the morale of the Indian Team for the esteemed competition which will see 16 top teams of the world vie for honours.

"Finishing on the podium at a Senior Men's World Cup is not an easy task, and we hope this announcement will further increase the motivation levels of the already glory-hungry Indian Men's Hockey Team. Winning a medal in a home World Cup would surely go down as one of the best memories for the players in their decorated careers. We wish them the very best for the FIH Odisha Hockey Men's World Cup 2023 Bhubaneswar-Rourkela," said Hockey India President Padma Shri Dr Dilip Tirkey in an official statement released by HI.
"The Indian Men's Hockey Team is the pride of the nation and we want them to scale all the possible peaks in the sport. To help them achieve that, and to further motivate them towards this target, we have announced this prize for the team. Harmanpreet and Co are very able and talented players and we are sure they will do the best they can to finish with a medal," said Hockey India's Secretary General Bholanath Singh.

This announcement by Hockey India will be a shot in the arm for the team who are leaving no stone unturned in their preparations for the mega event on home soil where they hope to end the wait to stand on the podium. India has previously won three medals at this prestigious event. The team registered a Bronze Medal at the first edition of the prestigious event in 1971 followed by a Silver Medal in Amstelveen Hockey World Cup in 1973 apart from a title win in 1975.

Last week, Hockey India announced the 18-member team that will represent India at the FIH Odisha Hockey Men's World Cup 2023 Bhubaneswar-Rourkela. The Indian team, which is in pool D with England, Spain, and Wales, will begin their campaign on 13th January 2023 in the newly built Birsa Munda Hockey Stadium in Rourkela against Spain, followed by their second pool D match against England. They will travel to Bhubaneswar for their third pool match against Wales. The knockout stage will begin with crossover matches on January 22 and January 23, followed by quarterfinals on January 25 and semifinals on January 27. The Bronze Medal match and the Final will be held on January 29.
Indian Team: Krishan Bahadur Pathak, Sreejesh Parattu Raveendran, Jarmanpreet Singh, Surender Kumar, Harmanpreet Singh, Varun Kumar, Amit Rohidas, Nilam Sanjeep Xess, Manpreet Singh, Hardik Singh, Nilakanta Sharma, Shamsher Singh, Vivek Sagar Prasad, Akashdeep Singh, Mandeep Singh, Lalit Kumar Upadhyay, Abhishek, Sukhjeet Singh, Rajkumar Pal and Jugraj Singh. (ANI)