Bhubaneswar: In yet another notable stride for Odisha’s thriving sports landscape, the silver city of Cuttack is poised to host the Odisha Masters 2023 for a second consecutive year.
Scheduled to transpire from the 12th to the 17th of December, the prestigious badminton tournament will unfold at the Jawaharlal Nehru Indoor Stadium in Cuttack.
Recognized as one of Asia’s premier competitions, the event boasts a substantial prize pool of USD $100,000 and is also categorized as a BWF Tour Super 100 event.
Badminton fans are in for yet another thrilling competition as last year’s champion in Men’s Singles, Kiran George and last year’s Women’s singles champion, Unnati Hooda will return to retain their title. Gayatri Gopichand and Tressa Jolly, the duo that won the Women’s Doubles last year, will also be in action again.
Speaking ahead of the tournament, Sports Secretary R Vineel Krishna expressed his pleasure at hosting yet another edition of the marquee competition in Odisha and reiterated the importance of it towards the growth and development of badminton in Odisha.
“We are looking forward to hosting yet another edition of the Odisha Masters in Cuttack. Badminton is a priority for us, and we have undertaken numerous measures towards the promotion of the game. While infrastructure is crucial, competition is equally important.” the Sports Secretary said.
Krishna further added, “With excellent Badminton players from around the world descending upon Odisha for the competition, it will serve as an inspiration for our own budding badminton athletes to strive for the highest level of the game.”
The Odisha Masters 2023 is another milestone for Odisha, which has consistently showcased its willingness and ability to host international sporting events. Furthering their commitment to the development of Badminton, the Badminton High-Performance Centre at the Kalinga Sports Complex in Bhubaneswar is currently under construction and set to be inaugurated soon. Additionally, the 90 multi-purpose indoor stadiums set up across Odisha will be promoting this sport at grassroots.
