16 teams. Two amazing stadiums. Sugar cane turf.
The World Cup is where hockey legends are made, and team dynasties are created.
The 2023 Men’s FIH Hockey World Cup is being held in Bhubaneswar and Rourkela, India from 13 to 29 January 2023.
The spectacular opening show was held on 11 January, it featured local music and Bollywood stars in front of a crowd of 45,000 people.
The World Cup features 16 teams, Belgium the defending champions (and current Olympic champions) can become a hockey dynasty if they join Pakistan, Germany and Australia as the only teams to win back-to-back Men’s World Cups. They will be pushed to limit of their skill by Australia, who are #1 in the world rankings and are hockey’s most successful World Cup team in the turf era (since 1986) with 3 golds and 8 medals overall.
The event will be played at two magnificent hockey stadiums:
The 16,000 seat Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar hosted the previous Men’s World Cup in 2018 and is one of the top 10 biggest hockey stadiums in the world. The Kalinga Stadium will host the semi finals and final.
The brand new Birsa Munda International Hockey Stadium in Rourkela has been built for the tournament. It is hockey’s biggest all-seater stadium (20,000) and will be a spectacular venue for hockey fans and players.
Poligras has been chosen for 10 World Cups, including the 2026 World Cups
With 8 Olympics and 10 World Cups, Poligras is hockey’s #1 turf. For Bhubaneswar and Rourkela, Poligras Platinum GT turfs have been installed at both stadiums as well as for the training turfs.
This turf is another green technology (GT) advance for hockey. Poligras Platinum, was developed for the Rio Olympic Games and is one of hockey’s most popular turfs. The GT variation features 20% polyethylene made from sugar cane rather than fossil fuels.
For hockey fans, the Poligras website has features on the World Cup including:
- Photographs of the construction (45C and monsoon weather!)
- Interview with World Cup winning coach Shane McLeod
- Interview with double World Cup winner, Mattias Witthaus
- Information about what’s next for hockey turfs
Please visit https://www.poligras.com/2023-mens-hockey-world-cup
