PR Sreejesh: How A Small Village Boy From Kerala Went On To Become A Great 'Wall' Of Indian Hockey
Indian men's hockey team goalkeeper PR Sreejesh has now been hailed as 'The Great Wall Of India' for his brilliant effort when only 6.8 seconds were left in the game against Germany ensured India won a bronze medal at the Tokyo Olympics.
PR Sreejesh, Indian men's hockey team goalkeeper saved the 13th penalty corner when Germany was closing in on destroying India's dream of winning an Olympic medal after 41-years and its first Bronze in 49-years. India's number 16 has made some brilliant saves for the Men in Blue throughout the Tokyo Olympics.
Here's the story of India's talismanic goalkeeper PR Sreejesh, who led them to first Olympic medal in 41 years.
About PR Sreejesh - ¡®The Great Wall of India¡¯
Parattu Ravindran Sreejesh, an Indian men¡¯s hockey team goalkeeper born in Kizhakkambalam village in Kerala's Ernakulam district on May 8, 1986.
Sreejesh was a 12-year-old when he joined the GV Raja Sports School in Thiruvananthapuram, about 200 km away from home where he trained as a sprinter and never aspired to become a hockey player. It was his coach at GV Raja Sports School who inspired him for goalkeeping in hockey. Now in 2021, Indian hockey and the whole of India are thankful for this bittersweet decision taken from his coach and parents.
Men behind his Sreejesh success
PR Sreejesh grows by spending his time in Kerala's GV Raja Sports School where he was introduced to hockey by Jayakumar and Ramesh Kolappa, who coached the school team.
PR Sreejesh soon played for the school team and as luck would have it, then coach of the junior national Indian hockey team and future senior team coach, Harendra Singh spotted him at a U-14 tournament.
PR Sreejesh Indian hockey debut
Sreejesh is currently hailed as ¡®The Great Wall of India¡¯ made his debut in Indian hockey in 2004 as a national junior team player against Australia where he displays his goalkeeping skills on the field was enough to fetch him a place in the senior team within a couple of months.
PR Sreejesh made his debut in the senior Indian hockey team at the 2006 South Asian Games in Colombo where his performance was excellent and he was saved many goals for the team throughout the tournament.
PR Sreejesh Rise to Glory
PR Sreejesh was the star player for India at the 2014 Asian Games in Incheon, South Korea, where the Indian hockey team won the gold medal, in this game Sreejesh saving two penalty strokes against Pakistan in the final.? He has been a regular member of the national team since that match and later this year, India finished third in the Champions Trophy, but Sreejesh was adjudged Goalkeeper of the Tournament.
Lead the Team India from front
When legendary midfielder Sardar Singh has vacated the captaincy, PR Sreejesh was the best choice for leading the team India from the front. In his captaincy team, India won a silver medal in the 2016 Champions Trophy. But due to a lack of good performances by the team in the upcoming tournaments, he was replaced by Manpreet Singh as the captain.
PR Sreejesh has also been a recipient of the Arjuna Award in 2015. In 2017, the Government of India awarded him the fourth highest civilian award Padma Shri for his work in the field of sports.
Hero of Tokyo Olympics 2020
A rock-like PR Sreejesh is the last line of defence for team India and he did a tremendous job during the whole Tokyo summer Olympics games 2020. That's why Indian hockey team star goalkeeper PR Sreejesh became the hero after his last-second crucial penality save which resulted in India's victory and Olympic bronze medal in hockey after a long wait of 41 years.
