The Indian men's hockey goalkeeper played a vital role in India's bronze medal-winning campaign at the Tokyo Olympics.
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The Indian men’s hockey team enjoyed a memorable Olympics in Tokyo last month as they finally clinched a medal in the sport following a long wait. The hockey team brought glory to the nation when they ended a 41-year Olympic medal drought after defeating Germany 5-4 in Tokyo to win the bronze medal in August. Goalkeeper PR Sreejesh was one of the stars of the tournament for the nation, making some vital saves during the course of the Olympics. His impressive contribution for the team has not gone unnoticed. He has been nominated for the FIH Men’s Goalkeeper of the Year 2020-21.
Speaking about the nomination, Sreejesh, according to a Hockey India release, said, “It feels amazing when your efforts and hard work is recognized. It’s a huge honour for me to be nominated for the award. This nomination is not only for my own performance, but the team’s performance as a whole in the last one year. We have played some excellent hockey and I would like to thank my teammates for their support throughout my career.”
Referring to the historic Olympic bronze medal-winning campaign in Tokyo, PR Sreejesh labelled it as the “most special moment” of his career. “Winning the bronze medal at the Tokyo Olympics will always be the most special moment in my career. The Olympics is the biggest tournament for any sportsperson and all of us dream of winning an Olympic medal. The team fought hard throughout the tournament and we never gave up. Even when we were trailing 1-3 against Germany in the bronze medal match, we didn’t give up and that shows the character of this side,” said the 33-year-old.
Sreejesh has asserted that the team will work harder to achieve even better results in the future. “We are not done yet. Yes, winning an Olympic medal is a huge achievement for us, however, we have the potential to do even better in the future. We are going to continue to work hard in the upcoming months and ensure that we are evolving and growing as a team. We will set fresh goals for ourselves and try our level best to achieve all our targets,” stated Sreejesh.
Goalkeeper PR Sreejesh, who is one of the admirers of national cricket team skipper Virat Kohli, said he wants to emulate the batsman’s strive for perfection. “Virat Kohli is really good. He is a person who tries to play each ball perfectly. It doesn’t matter if he is playing Bangladesh or Australia, he will give his best shot. That’s the best thing you can learn,” Sreejesh told Olympics.com recently.
As the topic changed to the bronze medal playoff against Germany in Tokyo, the goalkeeper spoke about a sublime save he made in that match. With just seven seconds to the final hooter, the Germans had won a penalty corner. The drag-flick from Germany’s Lukas Windfeder looked to be heading into the goal but Sreejesh made a scintillating save to help India hang on to the slender one-goal lead to clinch the bronze medal.
“Was it the most important save in my career? Umm, you can say that now. That save has its own importance. Because an Olympic medal is the biggest medal that one can win. That save helped me to win the medal and it is the biggest day of my life,” he explained.
