The Untold Story of P. R. Sreejesh: India’s Star Goalkeeper and Bronze Medalist at Tokyo Olympics 2020.

Indian Men’s Hockey Team created history today after beating Germany by 5-4 to clinch an Olympic Medal after 41 years. Indian Men’s Hockey Team beats Germany to win the Bronze Medal at the Tokyo Olympics 2020.

This is the 12th medal for the Indian Men’s Hockey Team, consisting of eight gold, one silver, and three bronze at the Olympics, making Team India as the best performing nation in Olympic History.For the unversed, Team India has won their last medal at the 1980 Moscow Olympic games where they played brilliantly and clinched the gold medal.

Talking about the match, Germany started off on high by taking an early lead in the game by 3-1 in the first half, then the Indian team showed them their grit and determination in the second half to end the medal jinx this time.Simranjeet scored a brace while Hardik Singh, Harmanpreet Singh, and Rupinder Pal Singh also got their names on the scoresheet for India.

But the ultimate twist came when Germany was awarded a Penalty Corner in the last few seconds of the match. Germans were in full mood to grab the opportunity but they forgot that they had to Cross the P. R. Sreejesh barrier to score a goal.

P.R. Sreejesh who is also known as ‘The Wall’ of the Indian Hockey Team saved one of the most important penalty goals of his life. Although, Sreejesh has been spectacular throughout the tournament but the goal saved in the last few seconds of the Bronze Medal match will be remembered for a long time.

Who is P. R. Sreejesh?

Parattu Raveendran Sreejesh aka P.R. Sreejesh is an Indian professional field hockey player who plays as a goalkeeper and is the former captain of the Indian national team. P.R. Sreejesh hails from Kizhakkambalam village, in the Ernakulam district of Kerala. As a kid, Sreejesh trained as a sprinter before moving on to long jump and Volleyball.

At the age of 12, P.R. Sreejesh joined the GV Raja Sports School in Thiruvananthapuram where his coach suggested that he should take up goalkeeping. Sreejesh became a professional goalkeeper when he was picked by hockey coach Jayakumar.

Sreejesh played his first junior national match for India in 2004 against Australia. He then went on to make his debut in the senior national team in 2006 at the South Asian Games in Colombo. Following India’s victory at the 2008 Junior Asia Cup, P Sreejesh was awarded the ‘Best Goalkeeper of the Tournament’

Although, He had to wait for long for his second ‘Best Goalkeeper of the Tournament award which came at the 2013 Asia Cup where India finished second in the tournament. At the 2014 Asian Games in Incheon, P.R. Sreejesh played superbly ensuring India’s gold medal by saving two penalty strokes against Pakistan in the final match.

On 13 July 2016, P.R Sreejesh was given the responsibility of captaining Team India, one of the proud moments of his long successful career. His team won the silver medal at the 2016 Men’s Hockey Champions Trophy held in London.

In 2017, The Government of India awarded P.R. Sreejesh the fourth Highest civilian award Padma Shri for his work in the field of sports. P.R. Sreejesh had an extraordinary career and we wished him to have the continued success ahead.

Meanwhile, NLC Congratulates Indian Men’s Hockey Team for winning the bronze medal at the Tokyo Olympics 2020.