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The city of Raipur served as a perfect host to the top Hockey teams Australia, Argentina, Belgium, Canada, Germany, Great Britain, India and Netherlands. Showcasing the vibrant visual art, talented artists from across the city welcomed the players marking the tournament open.
The top eight teams who incidentally have also qualified for the Olympics next year will be competing at the year’s biggest global hockey event, the Hero Hockey World League Final at the newly inaugurated Sardar Vallabh Bhai Patel International Hockey Stadium, Raipur, Chhattisgarh.
The glorious welcome ceremony kick-started Chhattisgarh’s first ever exposure to a multi-nation international hockey tournament and lit up Sardar Vallabh Bhai International Hockey Stadium, Raipur, which would be the home to the world’s best hockey playing nations from 27th November – 6th December 2015.
The opening ceremony was graced by the presence of Dr. Raman Singh, Hon’ble Chief Minister, Chhattisgarh and Mr. Balramji Das Tandon, Hon’ble Governor of Chhattisgarh.
Over 180 players from eight nations along with 3500 people as the audience witnessed a glimpse of Chhattisgarh’s vivacious folk and tribal culture. More than 400 folk artists from Bastar, Sargoja and Raipur took over the stadium to showcase Karam and Panthi, the most popular dance forms of the Satnami community of Chhattisgarh. The artists left the audience stunned by their exceptional talent. The event was concluded with a soulful performance from the Raga Band who left the audience mesmerised.
A special stamp on Sardar Singh was also launched on this occasion which was unveiled by Dr. Raman Singh, Hon’ble Chief Minister of Chhattisgarh, honoring Sardar’s contribution to Indian hockey.
The opening ceremony was followed by the first match of the tournament where hosts India faced 5th-ranked Argentina.
NMDC Ltd is the Principal Partner while SECL/CIL and NTPC are the Official Partners for the Hero Hockey World League Final 2015.
