Bhubaneswar: The excitement among fans has reached the zenith ahead of final of the on-going Odisha Hockey Men's World Cup at the Kalinga Stadium here today. The Netherlands and Belgium will lock horns with each other in the final of the mega tournament which saw participation of 16 top teams from across the globe.
Earlier Belgium hammered England by 6-0 goals in the first semi-final and Netherlands defeated World no 1 Australia in a closely contested second semi final match played at Kalinga Stadium yesterday.
In another match, Australia will face England for the third and fourth place play offs today.
"We are looking forward for the Hockey World Cup final as the best teams have qualified. It will be interesting as we anticipate an exciting match as both teams play fast hockey," said Sanjay Mohanty, a fan from Cuttack.
Other fans are excited as cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar will also be coming to Kalinga Stadium to witness the final match today. In a tweet message, Tendulkar also congratulated Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik and Hockey India for ‘world class arrangements’ at Kalinga Stadium.
Earlier, Bollywood actors Shah Rukh Khan, Madhuri Dixit, Salman Khan and music maestro AR Rahman had visited Odisha during the opening ceremony of the Hockey World Cup held at Kalinga Stadium and Barabati stadium in Cuttack on November 27 and 28.