Prime Minister Narendra Modi praised the wall of Indian hockey PR Sreejesh and stated, "The team will miss him" as the veteran goalkeeper drew curtains on his outstanding career following the bronze medal-winning campaign at the Paris Olympics.
The Prime Minister met the Indian Paris Olympic contingent at his residence on the Independence Day. He also clicked pictures with the athletes during the event. Sreejesh along with captain Harmanpreet Singh, also gifted India jerseys and hockey to PM Modi during their meeting.
During the interaction with players, the Prime Minister asked about Sreejesh's retirement decision, "Sreejesh, had you already decided to retire?
Sreejesh replied, "I had been contemplating retirement for the past few years. My teammates would often ask in a fun way, 'When are you leaving?' I first attended the national camp in 2002 and played my first international match at the junior level in 2004. Since then, I've been representing my country for 20 years."
"I felt that retiring on a grand stage like the Olympics, where the whole world comes together, would be the perfect way to conclude my career," he added.
The Prime Minister responded, "The team will miss you, and they have given you a wonderful farewell."
"Sreejesh further said, "After we lost the semifinal, the team was little demotivated. But when we headed on to the pitch for the last match, my teammates kept encouraging each other, saying, 'We have to win this for Sreejesh Bhai.' I thanked them from that Olympic podium and announced my retirement after our victory."
The Paris Olympics saw the Indian team play scintillating hockey at times; performances that saw them defeat Australia by 3-2, for the first time after 52 years in the Olympics.
They pulled out another rabbit from the hat in the Quarter Finals, an unreal performance by every single member of the team against Great Britain, where they defended with a man down for over 40 minutes to force penalty shootouts and win by 4-2, courtesy of heroics from Sreejesh.
Reflecting on the team's performance against Britain in the quarterfinal, captain Harmanpreet, who was India's top scorer with 10 goals, said, "It was tough after the first quarter as we lost one player, but our coaching staff provided incredible support. In the Olympics, anything can happen, so we visualised every challenging situation and stuck to our game plan no matter what. The team was full of energy and determined to win the match at any cost. Also, beating Australia after 52 years was an achievement and a big record in itself."
With a bronze medal win in Paris, the Indian men's team claimed back-to-back medals in hockey for the first time since the 1972 Olympics in Munich and attained their 13th overall Olympic medal.
(With inputs from IANS)
