Rourkela, Dec. 10: The rural hockey tournament today started at Biju Pattnaik Hockey Stadium in the city.

Inaugurating the Biju Patnaik Rural Hockey Championship, organised by the Dillip Tirkey Sports Foundation, Vice-president M. Hamid Ansari was visibly overwhelmed at the kind of response the tournament received. Ansari said: "I am really impressed with the kind of response this tournament has received in a huge stadium like this."

"Never ever I had seen such a gathering of players in a tournament venue, and if this is the response, the game certainly has a bright future," he said.

The foundation, established by former Hockey India captain and Rajya Sabha member Dillip Tirkey, hosted the tournament with an objective of talent hunt.

Chief minister Naveen Patnaik, who was present on the occasion, said: "Hockey has always brought pride to Odisha and this is an addition to that."

Praising Tirkey for this effort, he said: "Dillip Tirkey is a son of this soil and this effort by him certainly will help the game immensely and bring pride moments for the state."

Tirkey spoke about the objective of the tournament. "It will not only find talents, but also help in generating interest among the youths to follow the game. And above all, it will persuade the youths to pick hockey and not gun," he said.

Five Olympians - Michel Kindo, Ashok Kumar, Kalinga Lancers manager K. Subbayah, Ignace Tirkey and Birendra Lakra - also graced the occasion.

There was enthusiastic response from local people about the tournament. Benedict Tirkey, a former player and organiser, said: "This kind of events will definitely help the game." SAIL Hockey Academy coach Peter Tirkey said: "There will be far reaching impact of the tournament for the game."

Two veterans - Ashok Kumar, former Olympian and son of Major Dhyanchand, and K.B. Subbayah - were highly impressed with the meet.

Kumar said: "For the first time, I saw how much the game is loved by all here."

Subbaiyah said: "It reminds of the family hockey tournament that we play back at my home in Koorg."

He had a special mention about coaching and said: "The country should tap the indigenous hockey coaches."

He said that earlier India used to export coaches to the world and "now we are importing".

The tournament will continue till March end. There are 1,458 teams taking part from three states, Odisha having the majority, followed by Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh.

The matches will be played at separate venues in their respective states, and finally, 32 teams will come for the final round in Rourkela.