PR Sreejesh did what he does best apart from world-class goalkeeping — sit atop the goalpost. He did that in Tokyo, he has done it in Paris, again.

India had just beaten Spain 2-1 in the hockey bronze medal playoff at the sun-baked Yves-du-Manoir Stadium on Thursday, the stadium had erupted in joy — given what India went through in the last 24 hours, the unbridled euphoria was perfectly justified — and Sreejesh lay down prone on the turf.

Teammates fell on a heap over him and it seemed the 36-year-old might get injured. He got up. With the crowd cheering him on, Sreejesh climbed up the goalpost. That’s what everyone wanted and he gleefully obliged.

It was Sreejesh’s last match for India and the bronze medal — albeit a change in colour of the metal would have been better — was the best way to sign off.

“This is a good way to finish an Olympic Games, with a medal. We are not going home empty-handed, that’s a great thing,” he said.

For the first medal since 1980’s gold in Moscow, India had to wait for 41 long years. And now India have won back-to-back bronze medals for the first time since 1968-1972.

“Tokyo has got a beautiful place at my home and in my heart because that gave us hope, helped us to get the confidence that we are capable of winning a medal at the Olympics. It took me almost 21 years to stand on the podium,” Sreejesh was candid.

But the road to Paris was not easy.

India had a disappointing World Cup in Odisha early last year. New coach Craig Fulton came on board replacing Graham Reid. There were seeds of doubt if the team would be able to have a podium finish in Paris.

Fulton broke away from Reid’s style of high-pressing and worked on the solid defensive base. Initially, there was scepticism. After India had a disastrous five-Test series against Australia two months before the Paris Games, it seemed they might find the going tough.

But in Paris, India stuck to their plan, rallied around each other and, barring the losses against Belgium and Germany, they looked like the dominant team.

On Thursday, after a not-too-great first two quarters — captain Harmanpreet Singh’s equaliser after Spain skipper Marc Miralles made it 1-0 came at the stroke of half-time — India were all over their rivals.

The second goal came three minutes after the half-time. From who else other than Harmanpreet? Ten goals, including the crucial strike against Great Britain in the quarter-finals, this was Harmanpreet’s Games.

“He was superb. Isn’t it?” Manpreet Singh, under whose captaincy India won bronze in Tokyo, had to strain his vocal chord to make himself heard at the open-air mixed zone. The Indian fans were making a lot of noise.

“Our dream was to win a gold medal. I would like to say sorry because we could have done it, but this medal is everything for us. It is a big thing for India that we have won (medals) back-to-back,” Harmanpreet said.

A great achievement. Given the fact that India had six fourth-place finishes over the past two weeks, another heartbreak would have been the last thing the country would have wanted. Harmanpreet and his men have given a reason to smile about.