Friday, 20 September 2024
Friday, 20 September 2024
The Indian hockey team scripted history in Paris when they won the bronze medal – the team’s first back-to-back Olympic medal win after the bronze wins in 1968 and 1972. And if there is someone Harmanpreet Singh’s men won it for, it was PR Sreejesh, the goalkeeper who called it a day after the hurrah in Paris.
Sreejesh, whose career spanned a remarkable 18 years, walked into the sunset a content man.
"Everyone is asking me, 'why now?',” PTI quoted Sreejesh as saying after he announced his retirement decision. “One piece of advice I got in my career is that when you retire people should not say 'why not?', they should ask you, 'why?'. This is the right time to take that course."
Sreejesh, 36, may be ready to move on but his story will inspire many.
From a farmer's family to the international stage
Sreejesh, born into a family of farmers in Kerala, trained as a sprinter and explored his love for long jump and volleyball before transitioning to hockey.
Thanks to his coach’s suggestion at the GV Raja Sports School in Thiruvananthapuram, Sreejesh took up goalkeeping at 12 years of age. Soon, the school’s hockey coach, Jayakumar, recognised Sreejesh’s talent and motivated the boy to pick up the sticks for his school. He made the junior national team and played his debut match for the Indian junior team against Australia in 2004.
Two years later at the South Asian Games in Colombo, Sreejesh debuted in the senior national team. In 2008, following an excellent performance in the Junior Asia Cup, he received the Best Goalkeeper of the Tournament award.
In the 2013 Asia Cup, Sreejesh earned another Best Goalkeeper of the Tournament award even though team India finished second.
Olympics, debut, Asian Games hero
Two years after his Olympic debut at the 2012 London Games, P. R. Sreejesh saved two penalties against Pakistan in the final of the 2014 Asian Games. That won the gold medal for India. A new hero was born.
Having been crowned the captain of India in 2016, Sreejesh led his team to the quarterfinals of the Rio Olympics. Then, at the Tokyo Olympics, Sreejesh’s squad beat Germany to win a bronze medal for India, the country’s first Olympic medal in hockey in 41 years.
In Paris, thanks to Sreejesh’s incredible saves, India beat Spain 2-1 to win another bronze medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
The always-humble Sreejesh’s reaction was typical.
“Being a goalkeeper, it is my duty to stop the shots,” he told NDTV. "So I was just thinking about stopping them. That is not the right time to think about something different. I think they did a wonderful job as a team, as a good defensive team," he added.
A career wrapped in accolades
P. R. Sreejesh won multiple medals for India. In addition to two silver medals at the Commonwealth Games (2014 Glasgow and 2022 Birmingham), he won a bronze at the 2014-15 World League in Raipur.
On the other hand, besides a silver medal, Sreejesh has four gold medals at the Asian Champions Trophy.
Additionally, he won two gold medals at the Asian Games. Two silver medals at the Champions Trophy (2016 London and 2018 Breda) and a silver medal at the 2013 Asia Cup add glory to his name.
He was awarded the Padma Shri, India’s fourth-highest civilian award, in 2017. In 2021, alongside Neeraj Chopra, he received the Khel Ratna Award, considered the highest sporting honour of India. In 2022, following a fantastic season, P. R. Sreejesh received the World Games Athlete of the Year 2021.
Does Sreejesh have any regrets?
After he officially announced his retirement, Sreejesh was asked by Olympics.com if he had any regrets. “Yes, there are loads, but I think when you have two Olympic medals around your neck, there is no space for regrets. People always say to me that I miss my family time. But today, my two kids are sitting at home cheering for me, and they are realising what I have done. They know that their dad is doing something great,” Sreejesh said.
“My daughter, when we lost in the semi-final, she was crying like anything, and today she must be the happiest person there. So they've seen me playing, they've seen me doing something great for my country. So for them, I'm the hero, and as a father, I've done a wonderful job,” he proudly stated.
“(Now) I think it's time for me to take all my medals from the cupboard, and it's time for my kids to start their journey and I'm done, and their life starts,” he added.
On being asked what he would miss after retirement, he said: “I [will] miss everything. It was my life. When I was a baby, I stepped on to [play] hockey. From there, I was with the under-16 junior team, then into [the] under-21 junior team, then into the senior team. I don't know what is going to happen outside this hockey world, so now I'm a baby again, going back to the real world to see what is happening there.”
Sreejesh will join shooter Manu Bhaker as the flag-bearer of the Indian contingent in the closing ceremony of the Olympic Games here on Sunday. Can there be a better send-off for an athlete?
