Harpal Singh Bedi

New Delhi: It is India again. Hockey India on Friday won its bid for hosting   the  15th  Men’s Hockey World Cup  from 13 to 29 January 2023.

After successfully hosting the 14th  World Cup Bhubaneswar in  2018, India again made a bid along with two other nations for the 2022/2023 event
 This  will be the third World cup in India since 2010 and record  fourth since   this event started in 1971

Interestingly  the next World cup will be held in the 75 years of independence of India  and a the country will hope to regain the  title  which it  last won in 1975. 

The FIH Executive Board announced their decision in Lausanne, Switzerland on Friday, 8 November after the its  Task Force thoroughly examined all bids and made a recommendation on  6 November. 
India’s preferred the window to host the next edition of the cup is  between 13 to 29 January 2023.

Last year, India had hosted the 14th edition of the  Cup at the Kalinga Hockey Stadium in Bhubaneswar, Odisha and  received accolades from around the world for their hospitality and state-of-the-art facilities as host nation. 

India is the first country ever to host four Men’s Hockey World Cups, after having hosted the Men’s Hockey World Cups in 1982 (Mumbai), 2010 (New Delhi) and 2018 (Bhubaneswar). The 2018 edition saw India match The Netherlands’ record of hosting three  Cups.

 Along with the 2018 edition of the  Cup, India has also hosted some of the biggest hockey events in recent times including the  Champions Trophy in 2014,  Junior Men’s World Cup in 2016, Hockey World League Final in 2017, FIH  Series Finals in 2019 and the recently concluded FIH Hockey Olympic Qualifiers in  Odisha. 

Hockey India President Mohd. Mushtaque Ahmad expressed his delight at the announcement by FIH. ” When we made the bid, we wanted to give our country another reason to celebrate 75 years of independence adding to that the fact that our last win was registered in 1975. And what better way to celebrate than to witness a pinnacle global event of our national sport on our soil. 

“After having hosted the 14th edition of the Cup  which was recognized as one of the best hockey events ever, we were confident that we can host another  Cup, and we are all very delighted on the prospects of hosting the top hockey-playing nations in India.”he added.