Fans queue up but India match tickets sold out in Bhubaneswar

BHUBANESWAR: The countdown has begun for the upcoming hockey World Cup as offline ticket sale began at Rourkela and Bhubaneswar from Monday.
Long queues of hockey lovers were seen at Rourkela counters. However, hockey fans in the capital city were upset as all tickets for India matches were sold out online, and tickets were available for matches scheduled on January 13 and 14.

“I had come to buy tickets for India matches but they said all tickets are sold out online.If the tickets were sold out online why did they open this offline counter? I am a bit disheartened, but I am taking tickets for the matches scheduled on January 13 and 14 as I want to just enjoy the game of hockey though I will miss out on Indias performance,” said Harapriya Das, a hockey lover.
The hockey World Cup will be held from January 13 to 29 at Bhubaneswar and Rourkela with 10 and 7 match days. Every team will play in both the venues. The first and second matches of India are scheduled against Spain and England at Rourkela on January 13 and 15 while India’s third match is scheduled at Bhubaneswar on January 19 against Wales.
“Of course, we want to enjoy the game and will cheer for the players irrespective of the country they belong to. But all hockey lovers want to cheer for the home team and we would be more than happy to watch our men in blue on the field. If I had little idea that the officials will sell off all tickets online, I would have bought it earlier. I feel bad like many other Indian fans,” said Joyesh Mishra, another hockey fan.
Official sources said the tickets of India matches at Rourkela were sold out within hours of opening online. And tickets of the home team matches in Bhubaneswar were sold out the same day.
“We are happy that there is so much interest for the hockey World Cup and the tickets sold out so soon. At the same time, we are also feeling bad for those who did not get tickets for the India matches,” said Dilip Tirkey, president of Hockey India.