“It’s my duty…”: PR Sreejesh explains India’s journey to 2024 Paris Olympics, Bronze

It was a perfect end to the illustrious career of PR Sreejesh, who guided the Indian hockey team to a bronze medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics on Thursday. Sreejesh was one of the team’s best players as they won their second consecutive Olympic bronze medal. In the bronze medal match, India came from a goal down to beat Spain 2-1 and Sreejesh once again made several impressive saves. In an interview with NDTV, Sreejesh spoke about how he countered the constant shots from the Spanish attackers and praised the Indian team for their defensive prowess.

“As a goalkeeper, it’s my duty to stop shots. So I was thinking about stopping them. It’s not the right time to think about anything else. I think they did a wonderful job as a team, as a good defending team,” he said. Sreejesh to NDTV after the bronze medal match.

After the victory, Sreejesh bowed in front of the post as his teammates celebrated the triumph around him. When asked about his emotions at that moment, Sreejesh said that it had been ‘home’ for him for the last 24 years and that he felt he had to say goodbye in a ‘proper way’.

“It has been home for 24 years and when you say goodbye to it it must be done properly. For the Indians, it is our culture to go in front of the goal. supported me faced. It helped me, supported me whenever there are ups and downs,” she added.

Sreejesh was part of the team that won two gold medals at the Asian Games, two silver medals at the Commonwealth Games and four gold medals at the Asian Champions Trophy. He has about 100 medals and awards adorning his trophy case.

Sreejesh, who was honored with the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award in 2021, is only the second sportsperson from India to win the prestigious World Games Athlete of the Year award in 2021.

Additionally, he has won consecutive FIH Goalkeeper of the Year awards in 2021 and 2022.

(With PTI inputs)