Indian hockey Goalkeeper informed that Paris Olympics 2024 will be his last tournament

PR Sreejesh has announced that the upcoming Paris Olympics will be his last international career. Sreejesh will be hoping to end his national career with a bang as he will be in goal post to ensure that they collect back to back medals at Summer Games.

Indian veteran Hockey Goalkeeper who accumulated a total number of 328 caps has played at major competition such as Three Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games as well as World Cup, Sreejesh will play his fourth Olympic Games in Paris.

He made his debut back in 2010 World cup and since then he has been part of Indian various memorable wins which includes Gold medal at the 2014 Asian Games, Bronze medal at the 2018 competition; joint winning team of the Asian Champions Trophy in 2018, Gold medal winning team of 2019 FIH Men’s Series finals in Bhubaneswar and Silver medal at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham.

Sreejesh was one of the players who played a huge role at India’s record of Bronze medal at the Tokyo Olympics. He was the force behind India’s third place finish at the major tournament of the FIH Pro League back in 2021/22 season.

He was awarded with the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award in 2021 and he become the second player from India to win the award of World Games Athlete of the year in 2021 and he went on to win back-to-back FIH Goalkeeper of the year awards in 2021 and 2022. Last year, he help India to win gold at the Asian Games where they managed secure their ticket for Paris 2024.

PR Sreejesh expressed his thoughts regarding hang of the gloves for Indian Team.

Sreejesh said ”As I prepare for my last dance in Paris, I look back with immense pride and forward with hope. This journey has been nothing short of extraordinary and I am forever grateful for the love and support from my family, teammates, coaches, fans and Hockey India. Thank you for believing in me.”

He went to emphasize that he had discussion with his team about the decision to retire. Sreejesh said ”My teammates have stood beside through the tough and the ardent times. We all want to give our absolute best here in Paris and certainly the desire is to change the colour of our medal.”

Indian Hockey President Dr Dilip Tirkey also took his time to congratulate Sreejesh on his stellar career.

Dr Tirkey said ”Sreejesh was hardly 18 or 19 years old when I first saw him in the Indian camp and if I recall right, he made his international debut when I was Captaining the Indian team. He is a special player and my heart fills with joy and gratitude for his exemplary contribution to Indian hockey.

”This outing in Paris will certainly be a special one for the team and I believe Sreejesh’s decision will only encourage the team further to stand on the podium yet again and make it truly special not just for Sreejesh but for the entire hockey fraternity. I wish him and the team the very best.”

Captain Harmanpreet Singh promised the hockey fans of India that they will represent them with pride and joy and also making significant impact.

Singh said ”Paris 2024 will indeed be a special tournament. We have decided to dedicate our campaign to the legend PR Sreejesh. He has been an inspiration for all of us and I still remember his mentorship in 2016 Junior World Cup when we lifted the title.

”It was the beginning of many of our careers in international hockey and he has shaped each one of our careers in his own way. We want to ‘Win it for Sreejesh’ and we are all the more encouraged to stand on the podium once again.”

India are placed on the pool B in Paris Olympics 2024 and they will kick start the match against New Zealand on 27th July then play their second match against Argentina on 29 July then face Ireland on 30 July and Belgium on 1st August then conclude their tournament on 2nd August against Australia.

BY LUCKY SEANEGO