Fans find it hard to get tickets for India’s match with Kiwis today

Bhubaneswar: People wanting tickets or passes for the match between India and New Zealand in the men’s hockey World Cup in Kalinga Stadium here on Sunday, which will determine who goes to the quarter-finals, are struggling to find one.
While all the tickets on the online platform are already sold out, complimentary passes are also not available for the crossover match.
“This is not a scheduled match but still all the tickets on both online and offline platforms have been sold out. It is disappointing for hockey fans,” said Sidharth Mishra, a hockey fan who returned empty handed from the ticket counter on Friday. Hockey fans said since the offline ticket sales began on December 19, a huge rush has been witnessed at the ticket counters. However, online tickets were sold out for all group matches involving India. “We were so excited that we could watch the matches in the stadium. But getting tickets has been a Herculean task. Even though one can get tickets for other matches, those for games featuring India are not available either online or offline. I had also tried to arrange for a pass for an India match but failed. I have to watch the crossover match at home on the TV,” said Akash Sahu, an engineering student.
Kalinga Stadium can accommodate 15,000 spectators. After the sports department cancelled around 2,000 passes for schoolchildren, those tickets should have been available on the counters.