Paris Olympics 2024: Dilip Tirkey, who is the President of Hockey India, heaped praises on PR Sreejesh calling him the 'God of Indian Hockey' and that he could continue playing. Even before this tournament began, Sreejesh revealed, that he would be retiring from this sport after the mega-event. India's star goalkeeper performed brilliantly on Sunday, especially for the shootouts, and helped the team qualify for the semis.
Sreejesh attempted a brilliant save in the shootout and helped the team win the match 4-2 as the match ended in a 1-1 tie. He also performed brilliantly in the regular time as the Harmapreet Singh-led side featured 10 players for 40 minutes after Amit Rohidas left the field. Tirkey lauded both the team's defense and Sreejesh during an interaction on India Today and described their performance as outstanding.
Tirkey heaped praises on Sreejesh as he led the team across the line.
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"Look, a new development in the Indian hockey team can be seen now. In recent versions, we have seen that our defense, especially the first runner, is doing a great job. They block the first runner like tigers. Today, Amit Rohidas, you might have seen in one or two short corners, blocked like this. However, Amit Rohidas received a red card and was sent out, but the team's performance remained outstanding. Under pressure, our defense handled it very well, especially with the first and second runners blocking excellently at the posts. The important thing is that Sreejesh. Sreejesh is the god of Indian hockey. He has made a lot of saves in the past, and he saved the match today and helped us reach the semi-finals. Sreejesh's hard work is evident," Tirkey was quoted as saying to India Today.
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We want him to continue playing
Tirkey revealed that the board wished that Sreejesh could continue playing but he retired. But at the same time, Tirkey expects Sreejesh to help the team in the future and find good players.
"We want him to continue playing, but Sreejesh himself has already retired. We want Sreejesh to keep playing. But we hope he will continue to contribute in the future, and we get more better players. Indian hockey has high hopes for him," he concluded.
The Harmanpreet Singh-led side will lock horns with either Germany or Argentina in the semifinal on Tuesday.