Prime Minister Narendra Modi met the Indian contingent of the Paris Olympics on Thursday at his residence. PM Modi held a special interaction with the athletes, who recently returned to India from France after featuring in the Olympics 2024.
He exchanged a humorous interaction with several athletes, including the Indian hockey team captain Harmanpreet Singh. Nicknamed the 'Sarpanch' of the team, Harmanpreet shared how his men dealt with the arduous task of being a man down in their hard-fought win over Great Britain in the quarterfinal.
"Great Britain ke sath ap logo ko 10 players ke sath ladna tha. To kya shuru me hi demoralize ho gaye the? Kuch to bataiye Sarpanch Sahab (You had to fight against Great Britain with 10 players. Did you get demoralized? Tell me about that Sarpanch Sahab)," Modi asked.
"Ji bilkul sir. Bahot mushkil tha kyuki pehle quarter me red-card ho gaya tha. Hanare coaching staff ne kaafi help ki hai hamari. Humne visualise kiya hua tha kyuki Olympics me kuch bhi ho sakta hai. Saari team ka josh badh gaya. Kyuki GB ke sath fight bhi rehti hai (It was very difficult sir. Our player (Amit Rohidas) was red-carded in the first quarter itself (second quarter)," Harmanpreet said before Modi quipped with "Vo 150 saal se chali aa rahi hai (That is going on from 150 years)".
"Hamare mann me tha ki ye match jeetna hai. Hum shootout me jeete. Ek or khushi ki baat hai ki humne Australia ko haraya hai 52 saal baad (In our hearts, we wanted to win that match. We went on to win it in shootout. Another big moment was when we defeated Australia after 52 years in the Olympics)," the hockey skipper added.
Modi also had a conversation with the now-retired goalkeeper PR Sreejesh. "Sir thode saal se soch raha tha. Mere team vaalo ne bola bhai kab chodhega. Mai 2002 me pehli baar camp me gaya or 2004 me junior team ke liye khela. Maine socha 20 saal se desh ke liye khel raha hu. Maine socha ek ache platform se retire hona hai or Olympics se acha kya platform hoga (Sir I was thinking about retirement for a while ago. My teammates used to ask when I would leave. I began my career with a camp in 2002 and then played for the junior team in 2004. I thought of calling it a day after a big tournament and what platform can be bigger than the Olympics?)" Sreejesh said.
