Hockey World Cup 2018: Schedule, Opening Ceremony, Round Up

With 5 years of painstaking planning, preparation and a stunning rebuild of the state-of-the-art 15,000 capacity Kalinga Hockey Stadium, Bhubaneswar is all set to host to the men’s hockey’s flagship tournament, the World Cup 2018.

The level of excitement ahead of the start of this global sporting extravaganza is at an all-time high. The state capital city’s walls and billboards are all painted with the most famous of the hockey heroes.

Opening Ceremony

The grand event got an even grander opening with some of the most high profile personalities like Shahrukh Khan and AR Rahman making their presence felt. Oscar-winning composer AR Rahman performed to the tunes of ‘Jai India’ under the shimmering lights in the Kalinga Stadium with his group of musicians.

Joining him were Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan and actress Madhuri Dixit who won the audience’s heart with their captivating performances.

Build Up and Schedule

Earlier, on Monday 26 November, the captains of all the 16 competing teams had assembled along with Odisha’s CM Naveen Patnaik at Bhubaneswar’s magnificent Mukteshwar Temple where special commemorative photo alongside the brilliantly shining World Cup trophy. Although it remains to be seen which of these captains will be lifting the iconic trophy on Sunday 16 December, it still promises to be an enthralling 19-day journey of cutting-edge hockey action.

The latest edition will start from 28 November to 16 December. The hosts of the 14th edition of the grand event, India is placed in Group C besides Belgium, Canada, and South Africa. India will be beginning their campaign against South Africa today.
It will be Manpreet Singh who will lead the Indian side in the tournament, whereas Chinglensana Singh will be his the vice-captain.

Here is the complete group stage schedule the tournament

Catch up all the live action of Hockey World Cup 2018 here at KreedOn!