Team India's hockey goalkeeper PR Sreejesh wants to fulfill his "dream" of winning the World Cup title. According to him, the star player has achieved almost everything in his 17-year-long illustrious career, except for a World Cup medal. The 34-year-old Sreejesh had played a major role in India's historic bronze win in the Tokyo Olympics in 2021 and the team is hoping to finish on the podium in the ongoing World Cup in Bhubaneswar and Rourkela after a hiatus of 48 years.
"That (World Cup medal) is the only medal that is missing from my cabinet. The Indian team is working hard to finish on the podium and that is my dream," Sreejesh told PTI. "If we do that, I can also say that I have a medal from the Olympics as well as from the World Cup."
India had won their maiden World Cup medal, a gold, in the 1975 edition in Kuala Lumpur. Sreejesh, who has played 226 senior international matches since making his debut in 2006, has won medals in all prestigious tournaments, except for World Cup.
He was part of the gold and bronze-winning Asian Games teams in 2014 and 2018, the Commonwealth Games silver-winning teams in 2014 and 2022, Champions Trophy silver-clinching teams in 2016 and 2018. He won gold in Asian Champions Trophy in 2011, 2016, and 2018. He is also a three-time Olympian and is currently playing in his fourth World Cup.
Some of the members of the Tokyo Olympics bronze-winning teams like Birendra Lakra and Rupinder Pal Singh have retired since then. Sreejesh felt happy that the world body, FIH, is concerned about the safety of players and was thinking of giving more reaction time to penalty corner defenders but doesn't see any reason to change rules in this regard.
The FIH is doing a study on tweaking penalty corner hit rules to provide more safety to defending players as the high-speed ball travels in a crowded area. Asked about this, Sreejesh said, "In any sport, the safety of players comes first. I am happy that the FIH is concerned about the safety of the players. But the thing is that we should not change anything in penalty corners because the PC is one of the most beautiful things in hockey and it gives excitement to the game.
"Definitely, the way out could be better quality of equipment and better use of them can prevent injuries.
