Focused on hectic 2022 calendar, short-term target is to play for one more year, says ‘World Games Athlete of the Year’ PR Sreejesh | Hockey News – Times of India

When PR Sreejesh met former India coach Harendra Singh back in 2002, he didn’t have proper pads. Wearing a lungi, the last thing anyone could imagine was that the young boy from Kerala was a budding goalkeeper.
In the two decades since that day, the medal corner in Sreejesh’s house is led by an Olympic bronze and an Asian Games gold. Wonder what those who thought a ‘rock’ in the post was better than Sreejesh would be feeling now.
Earlier this week, Sreejesh’s popularity among his fans translated into another addition to his trophy cabinet. After women’s team captain Rani last year, it was the turn of Sreejesh to win the ‘World Games Athlete of the Year’ award for 2021.
In an interview with TimesofIndia.com, the 33-year-old veteran lived through his journey while taking some tough questions, including his thoughts on retirement and some of the criticism around global awards decided by online voting.
Excerpts…
After the highs of guarding the goal post in Tokyo, you have scaled another peak. Two Indians in a row now as ‘World Games Athlete of the Year’, and both from hockey — Rani last year and you this year…
When I got this nomination, I was really happy and so thrilled. Getting nominated was in itself a big achievement for me…This is a global award. So when FIH (International Hockey Federation) nominated me, that made me so happy. I did have a positive vibe, that there is a chance for me to win this. Definitely Rani showed it last time. She had a huge difference in the number of total votes. So I believed that I would get it.
Will this award pep you up to maybe go that extra mile in what could be called the twilight of your career after the Olympic bronze?

(Photo: PR Sreejesh Twitter)
We work our entire life to win an Olympic medal. I didn’t want to mess it up with a lot of thoughts, predictions or planning about my career. When I came back to the national camp (after the Tokyo Olympics), that was the time I was thinking about what I want, why I am here…I don’t have any World Cup medal with me and the last time at the 2018 Asian Games, we couldn’t get into the final. Those two things have always hurt me a lot. So that gives me the energy to think about one more year (in international hockey). In 2023 January, we have the World Cup in Odisha.
I do have a short target now for one more year. I think it’s too early to say about ending it (playing career) or continuing till Paris 2024 because anything can happen. An injury, loss of form or fitness can cost you your career. You are not in a stage to predict anything. Moreover, I am focusing on my performance right now. Keeping these targets (Asian Games and World Cup) in front of me, I am working hard to come up with a better performance in the upcoming tournaments.
2022 is a big year for hockey with the Pro League, CWG, Asian Games scheduled, soon followed by the World Cup in January 2023; and India still hasn’t found its next Sreejesh. Are you prepared to shoulder that responsibility for a little longer until maybe Krishan Pathak or Suraj Karkera can become dependable like you?
Every tournament I am trying to do my best. If you are in the national team, you need to prove yourself in every aspect. Krishan and Suraj are both with me and getting opportunities to gain more experience. Goalkeeping is not about age, youth or fitness, it is more about experience, how do you manage to cope up with pressure, how do you perform despite the pressure.
Now in the four-quarter format, we try to switch the goalkeeper in each quarter so that they get experience on the field. At the Asian Champions Trophy, Suraj performed really well and was adjudged the best goalkeeper of the tournament. These all things will give them more confidence to perform in the coming year.

When it comes to me, it’s a healthy competition between the three of us. I might be experienced; but when you are fighting with the young bunch, you need to put in something extra to match their fitness level…In the initial phase (of your career), you don’t need to worry about many things, but when you are getting older, then you realise how much you want to prepare yourself for the bigger ones (tournaments)…And I always believe goalkeepers get better when they get older.
There is a huge difference between goalkeepers and other players. We don’t need to run (that much) or match our speed or fitness with anybody. It’s all about saving the shots. Until your reflexes are good, your reaction and anticipation are good and you are able to stop the shots, then you can continue unless somebody is out-performing you.
Some of your compatriots and former teammates like Sardar Singh, Rupinder Pal Singh and Birendra Lakra have retired…
For players like Sardar, Rupinder, Birendra, somewhere there is some sort of feeling that ‘I can continue or do better’. But it’s not about personal feelings. It’s about how as a player you are fitting in the team. If some youngsters are performing better than you, then definitely everyone wants the best players in the team.
Being a goalkeeper, I always feel that goalkeeping is all about saving the shots, doesn’t matter whether you are 40 years old or 15 years old. If you are capable of stopping the balls and perform consistently at the international level, then definitely you can continue.

Experience of three Olympics is with me. For somebody coming into the team, they are missing that and they are experiencing the better phase of Indian hockey. We are world No. 3, we are winning, we are putting up tough competition against teams like Australia. They (new players) have never seen a time when India used to lose by a bad (huge) margin. That experience always helps me face different situations in a better way.
In your experience of working with both Indian and foreign coaches, do you think they look at older players differently?
It depends on how they want to use their players. I have seen Ignace Tirkey playing as an attacking midfielder in the early stage of his career; and when I played with him at the 2012 Olympics, he had started playing in the defensive line. So it totally depends on the coach…how the player fits into his system. Some coaches who prefer playing attacking hockey prefer young players…some coaches prefer more experienced midfielders or full-backs so that in pressure situations, they handle things in a better way. As a player, I feel it’s my responsibility to keep myself fit to stay in the system of the team.
Coming back to this award, it’s a popular choice award; and considering the following and number of fans in India, we outnumber most countries in online voting. So there is some criticism that such awards should instead be called ‘popular choice awards’, something that was also mentioned after Indian players made a clean sweep at the last FIH Awards. What’s your opinion on that?
Nothing much. I think the system has been there for such a long time. Not just me or Rani, before us there have been players who have won awards in the same manner. When it comes to Indians winning awards, then suddenly this topic is raised. I don’t know why. It’s an honour. For me, it’s something given to me by an organisation through people’s choice. So if they are happy with that and people are choosing me, then I am happy. On the field, being a player, these awards don’t matter in any way…It has never helped me to stop a ball or run an extra lap on the field…Your real duty is to perform on the field and win matches for your country.

When you are getting appreciation, there will always be somebody to criticise you. If you give more attention to that criticism, you will get disappointed and a lot of negative thoughts will come. I don’t want to look at the negative side of it.
A lot of celebrities also urged people to vote for you. Did that overwhelm you?
Sachin (Tendulkar) bhai tweeted and said ‘I cast my vote for Sreejesh’ and asked his fans to do the same. That is equal to an award for me. In my childhood, he was a super star for me. Whenever he used to get out, I would switch off my TV. I used to tell my dad ‘the game is finished’. That is how I grew up. So the ‘Cricket God’ tweeted for me, it’s really huge for me. A lot of film stars from Kerala posted on their social media, asking people to vote for Sreejesh. That is the impression we created after the Tokyo Olympics. I am really happy about that.
You put your Olympic medal around your dad’s neck. What was his reaction after this award?
He was super happy after the Olympics. When he saw that medal, that was it! For a normal farmer family guy, that was it for him. He told me that your aim has to be higher, keep performing well and win matches. If you are doing that, these things (awards) will follow. He said ‘never get satisfied’.

(TOI Photo)
Are you satisfied with your journey as a hockey player?
Twenty-two years ago, when I chose hockey against the wishes of my family and relatives, I never thought I would reach here. I thought about playing hockey for 3 to 5 years, play for Kerala, get some certificates, some extra marks, then go for bachelors and masters in physical education, do NIS (coaching programme) and become a coach or a professor. That was my plan.
What worked for me is that I never gave up and always took up a challenge. In the first year of goalkeeping, the seniors used to make fun of me. They would say, ‘Sree, you just stay out and we will keep a rock, it will do better than you.’ Those all things forced me to take it as a challenge; it never demoralised or disappointed me…First I used to concede 10 goals, then I started saving 10. Then I used to challenge them. That mentality helped me.
I am from a farming family. In farming, you don’t get anything overnight. You need to work hard from day one till the crops grow and then you harvest it. The same way I did. I just waited for the right time. I joined my first India camp in 2002 but got my first break, to play for the junior team, in 2004. Then I continued with the junior team till 2006. I also played the SAF games that year, but after that it took almost three years to get my next senior cap. So nothing happens overnight. That’s it.