Yet another prestigious international sporting event will be hosted by the Kalinga Stadium in Odisha capital as two matches of the FIH Hockey Olympic qualifiers are scheduled to be played at the venue on November 1 and 2.
The two high voltage clashes will take place where Indian men’s hockey team will take on Russia while the Indian women will face the USA.
The qualifiers came after a draw was held yesterday at the headquarters of the International Hockey Federation (FIH) in Lausanne, Switzerland.
Here’s the official announcement:
?ANNOUNCEMENT?
Indian?? men’s hockey team will take on Russia?? in the #Tokyo2020 @Olympics qualifiers scheduled to be held on 1st & 2nd November at Kalinga Stadium ? Bhubaneswar. #INDvRUS #RoadToTokyo #Odisha2019 #IndiaKaGame pic.twitter.com/7emeYY1qU9
— Odisha Sports (@sports_odisha) September 9, 2019
The winners of the qualifiers will qualify for the 2020 Olympic hockey tournament which will be staged in Japan’s capital city Tokyo.
Eight-time Olympic champions India are ranked five in the world while the Russians are placed 22 in the FIH world rankings. India had mauled Russia 10-0 during the FIH Series Final in Bhubaneswar earlier this year.
The women American team is placed four places below India (ranked 9) it won’t be a cakewalk for the Rani Rampal-led side when they take the field for the FIH Olympic qualifiers.
