By Forrest Crellin
PARIS (Reuters) – India goalkeeper PR Sreejesh always knew the Paris Olympics would be his last major tournament after an illustrious 18-year career and a final chance to win Olympic gold.
India ended a 41-year medal drought in men’s Olympic hockey with bronze in Tokyo three years ago and their veteran team is seeking inspiration from their stalwart keeper to get that elusive ninth gold medal.
Sreejesh is a crowd favourite and he kept flashing smiles at fans leaning over the railings, screaming his name as he walked to the locker room after a narrow 2-1 loss to reigning champions Belgium on Thursday.
“After conceding a goal, it’s a frustrating time for a goalkeeper. But what is next is more important, because what happened, you cannot change. And what is going to happen, now that’s in your hands,” Sreejesh told Reuters.
His skills were on full display as he denied a Belgian attack that dismantled the third-ranked Australian side under the lights at the Yves-du-Manoir stadium, north of the capital.
India have let in only five goals in four games, with teams totalling 52 shots against them to give Sreejesh a save rate above 90% for the tournament.
Sreejesh, though, is trying to take his fourth and final Olympic games one match at a time.
“I just do my normal routine,” he said. “I never change anything, but it’s a bit emotional because you know that you’ve got only eight matches throughout these Olympics, and four of the matches are done now, and four more left.”
Sreejesh is confident India can go deep in the tournament with a final Pool B game against Australia on Friday to come.
“It’s all about that day, because as you see today, we put up enough pressure on Belgium. We displayed a very good performance against them,” he said.
Sreejesh was awarded the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award in 2021 and is only the second sportsperson from India to win the World Games Athlete of the Year for his part in the team’s bronze medal run at the Tokyo Olympics.
He also won back to back International Hockey Federation Goalkeeper of the year awards in 2021 and 2022.
(This story has been corrected to fix the spelling of Sreejesh throughout)
(Reporting by Forrest Crellin, editing by Ed Osmond)
