Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Hockey Stadium or Raipur International Hockey Stadium is

field hockey Field hockey is a team sport structured in standard hockey format, in which each team plays with ten outfield players and a goalkeeper. Teams must drive a round hockey ball by hitting it with a hockey stick towards the rival team's shooting ci ...

stadium located in

Raipur Raipur ( ) is the capital city of the Indian state of Chhattisgarh. Raipur is also the administrative headquarters of Raipur district and Raipur division, and the largest city of the state. It was a part of Madhya Pradesh before the state of Chh ...

, in the Indian State of

Chhattisgarh Chhattisgarh (, ) is a landlocked state in Central India. It is the ninth largest state by area, and with a population of roughly 30 million, the seventeenth most populous. It borders seven states – Uttar Pradesh to the north, Madhya Prade ...

. It is

's second international blue

astroturf AstroTurf is an American subsidiary of SportGroup that produces artificial turf for playing surfaces in sports. The original AstroTurf product was a short-pile synthetic turf invented in 1965 by Monsanto. Since the early 2000s, AstroTurf has m ...

hockey stadium after

International Hockey Stadium International Hockey Stadium is a field hockey stadium in Mohali, Punjab, India. This stadium serves as the home ground for the hockey club, Punjab Warriors, of Hockey India League. On May 25, 2021, the stadium was renamed the Olympian Balbir S ...

Rajnandgaon Rajnandgaon is a city in Rajnandgaon District, in the state of Chhattisgarh, India. the population of the city was 163,122. Rajnandgaon district came into existence on 26January 1973, as a result of the division of Durg district. History O ...

, which was dedicated to public in August 2014. It is named after

Vallabhbhai Patel Vallabhbhai Jhaverbhai Patel (; ; 31 October 1875 – 15 December 1950), commonly known as Sardar, was an Indian lawyer, influential political leader, barrister and statesman who served as the first Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister of I ...

, an Indian independence activist and statesman. The stadium was constructed in record time, in a span of four months and at a cost of , before it was inaugurated in November 2015. It is set to host the 2014–15 Men's World League Final, in December 2015.

History

The stadium was inaugurated on the 109th birth anniversary of the legendary hockey player Major

Dhyan Chand Major Dhyan Chand (29 August 1905 – 3 December 1979) was an Indian field hockey player, widely regarded as one of the greatest field hockey players in history. He was known for his extraordinary ball control and goal-scoring feats, in a ...

and was inaugurated by the Speaker of Chhattisgarh Legislative Assembly Gaurishankar Agrawal and has a capacity of 4000 spectators with cost of Rs. 18 crores and statue of

Sardar Patel Vallabhbhai Jhaverbhai Patel (; ; 31 October 1875 – 15 December 1950), commonly known as Sardar, was an Indian lawyer, influential political leader, barrister and statesman who served as the first Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister of I ...

was also inaugurated at entrance of the stadium. The stadium saw its first match as an exhibition match played between India ‘A’ and India ‘B’ teams with 16 national players each from members of the

Glasgow Commonwealth Games The 2014 Commonwealth Games ( gd, Geamannan a' Cho-fhlaitheis 2014), officially known as the XX Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Glasgow 2014, ( sco, Glesca 2014 or Glesga 2014; gd, Glaschu 2014), was an international multi-sport ev ...

silver medal-winning Indian men's side. The stadium will host the 2014–15 Men's World League Final in December 2015. The first match played at the stadium was between

India men's national field hockey team The India men's national field hockey team represents India in international field hockey competitions, and is governed by Hockey India. The team was formerly under the control of Indian Hockey Federation. India was the first non-European team t ...

and

Australia men's national field hockey team The Australia men's national field hockey team (nicknamed the Kookaburras) is one of the nation's most successful top-level sporting teams. They are the only Australian team in any sport to receive medals at six straight Summer Olympic Games (1 ...

on 19 November 2015.

V. R. Raghunath Vokkaliga Ramachandra Raghunath (born 1 November 1988) is a former Indian professional field hockey player. He played as a fullback and was known for his abilities as a drag flicker. Early life Raghunath was born on 1 November 1988 to a forme ...

put two goals in the 28th and 43rd minute to draw 2-2 the match.India salvage 2-2 draw against Australia in first hockey Test
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Infrastructure

References

External links

Official website
{{Men's FIH Hockey World League Field hockey venues in India Sports venues in Raipur, Chhattisgarh 2015 establishments in Chhattisgarh Sports venues completed in 2015