The Indian men’s hockey goalkeeper PR Sreejesh, who recently won the World Games Athlete of the Year 2021 award, said the upcoming FIH Hockey Pro League 2021/22 matches will help the team lay a strong base for major events including the Asian Games and the FIH Odisha Hockey Men’s World Cup 2023 Bhubaneswar – Rourkela.
“We are starting 2022 with the FIH Hockey Pro League, and as you know we are ultimately competing against all the top teams in the world, so that will help us lay a strong base for the next major tournaments, which includes the Asian Games and the FIH Odisha Hockey Men’s World Cup 2023,” Sreejesh said while addressing the media over a virtual press conference on Wednesday. These matches will also give the players more experience of playing against the big teams, especially to the newcomers, who will get a chance to showcase their talent and cement their place in the team for the upcoming major tournaments,” he added.
The veteran goalkeeper was one of the main architects of the Indian Men’s Hockey Team’s historic Bronze Medal win at the Tokyo Olympics 2020. Having achieved his dream of winning an Olympic medal, Sreejesh spoke about what still motivates him. He said, “I think I do have a choice to decide the color of the medal, we have got the Bronze medal, and now we can target for the Silver or Gold medal, so that’s the motivation.”