The ‘Great Wall of Indian Hockey’ PR Sreejesh will soon be seen in a new role following his retirement from the sport, with Hockey India set to announce him as the coach of the junior national team. Sreejesh, 36, brought the curtain down on his illustrious goalkeeping career following India’s victory over Spain in the bronze-medal match on Thursday. Sreejesh, whose glorious 18-year-long career saw India clinch two Olympic bronze medals (2020 Tokyo and 2024 Paris), is regarded as the best-ever hockey goalkeeper the country has produced.
“Yes, we will appoint Sreejesh as the men’s junior team coach (under-21) in a few days. We have discussed this with him and there is no one better than him to guide and nurture the youngsters,” Hockey India president Dilip Tirkey told PTI from Paris.
“He has extraordinary capabilities, which he showed in Paris against Britain. Not just that, he will also be guiding the younger generations of goalkeepers,” added Tirkey.
Hockey India also wants Sreejesh to guide the current senior team goalkeepers, Krishan Bahadur Pathak and Suraj Karkera, who will replace him in the side.
“We would also like Sreejesh to be involved in guiding Krishan and Suraj who are going to replace him. He has vast experience and knows the tricks of the trade,” added Tirkey.
Sreejesh will be crucial to India’s success in the men’s Junior World Cup to be held in India in December next year.
“Sreejesh is also very crucial for us to guide and inspire the team in next year’s Junior World Cup as in the past also he has helped the junior side,” said Tirkey.
Tirkey said he was satisfied with the Indian hockey team’s performance in Paris, saying the team played like a cohesive unit.
“We at least repeated our (Tokyo 2021) performance even though we always targetted the gold medal. But, for me right now, a bronze is as good as gold. The team played extremely well and there was unity among the players, which was visible in the game against Britain,” he added.
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