Bhubaneswar, Jan. 18: Uttar Pradesh Wizards registered a dramatic 8-6 victory over Kalinga Lancers in a thriller of a game as the fourth edition of Hockey India League kicked off at the Kalinga Stadium today.

The game started under new field goal rules to make it more interesting.

According to the new rule, one field goal will be counted as two so as to encourage and reward more such strikes. Goals from penalty corners are counted as one as usual. Therefore, as expected, the match turned out to be a high scoring one.

Though the home team was lagging behind at the end of the first quarter, by half time they were leading 6-4 and at every goal of the Kalinga Lancers, the crowd was on its feet with joy.

However, the UP Wizards stunned the home team by scoring two goals in the last two minutes of the match.

Unlike the performance of the home team, the inaugural ceremony turned out to be a damp squib.

Actors Sabyasachi and Archita performed to some Odia and Hindi film songs, along with Be-Bop dancers. Chief minister Naveen Patnaik inaugurated the event.

"Hockey has a great following in Odisha and the state government has also supported its growth at all levels in the state," said Patnaik.

"We expected the inauguration ceremony to be much more colourful. It was certainly disappointing, The match was interesting. Though the home team lost, they performed well. The match was entertaining," said Akshaya Das, a fan at the stadium.

Kalinga Lancers player Glenn Turner received the Man of the Match award, while the Goal of The Match award went to Jolie Wouter from UP Wizards. Dipsan Tirky from Kalinga Lancers became the Hero Emerging Player of the Match and the most Entertaining Player of the match award was given to Lalit Upadhyay, also from the home team.

"We may have lost, but we put up a good fight. We are looking forward to better performance in the upcoming matches," said Kalinga Lancers captain Moritz Fürste.

Former Australian Mark Hager is the head coach, while former Indian captain Dilip Tirkey is the chief mentor and advisor of the home team.The Kalinga Lancers will play five matches here at Kalinga Stadium against Dabang Mumbai on January 21, Delhi Wave Riders on February 5, Punjab Warriors on February 7 and Ranchi Rays on February 8, respectively.