Sports Fever In Odisha In 2022, State To Host Several Mega Events

Odisha is all set to play host to a wide variety of high profile sporting events at the national and international level in 2022, an year which promises an unforgettable treat to crores of sports fans. 

A new Badminton World Federation (BWF) Tour event—Odisha Open Super 100 will be played at Jawaharlal Nehru Indoor Stadium in Cuttack from January 25-30. Cuttack will host an international badminton tournament after a long time.

The Millennium City will also host the first match of the T-20 series between India and West Indies in 2022. The match will be played at the historic Barabati Stadium on February 15.

Few matches of FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup will also be played in the ‘Sports Capital’ of the country. In more good news to the hockey fans of the State, World Hockey Pro League will be organised at the Kalinga Stadium in 2022. 

As per the State Sports Department sources, many more international hockey matches will be played at the Kalinga Stadium in 2022 before the game's biggest spectacle, the Men's World Cup tournament arrives in the State the next year.

Odisha will also play host to the Asian Volleyball Championship in August and September. As many as eight top ranked teams of Asia will lock horns in the tournament.

Apart from that, National Senior Volleyball Championships and National Volleyball Federation Cups will be organized in Odisha. Sports fans in the State will also get to enjoy National Sub-Junior, Junior and Senior Weightlifting Championships from March 20-29.

“Odisha weightlifters have always performed well in various national level competitions. As the host state, we are confident of a good show this time also,” said Narayan Sahu, Secretary of Odisha Weightlifting Association (OWA).

Moreover, National Sub-Junior and Junior Swimming Championships are also slated to be organised at the Biju Patnaik Swimming Pool in 2022.

Despite such thick and fast schedule of big sporting events lined up to be organised in the State possibly for the first time, it remains to be seen how fans revel in the sporting fever amid a surge in cases of Covid especially the Omicron variant of SARS-CoV-2.
 

(Edited by Suryakant Jena)