Indian Men's Hockey Team: Couldn't win Gold but dedicate Paris Olympics Bronze medal to ‘big brother’ PR Sreejesh
Paris 2024 Olympics bronze medalist, men's hockey team players pay a heartfelt tribute to retiring teammate PR Sreejesh in an exclusive chat with HT City.
Changing the colour of their medal at Paris 2024 Olympics was on the mind of Indian Men's Hockey Team. But having scored a second, consecutive Bronze hasn't deterred their sentiment to pay tribute to "big brother" and retiring teammate, PR Sreejesh. Back to India with a winning smile, captain Harmanpreet Singh and some of his comrades, who have brought laurels to the country, speak exclusively with HT City.
"Medal ceremony pe jane se pehle saari hockey team Neeraj (Chopra; javelin thrower) bhai ka match dekh rahi thi," recalls Harmanpreet, whose podium gesture of exchanging his medal with the outgoing goalkeeper PR Sreejesh has won many hearts. "Last time bhi humne same cheez ki thi aur main aur Sreejesh bhai sath mein khade thay... Humara jo bond hai, he's like my big brother. Unke liye hum gold jeetna chahte thay, woh pura nahi hua but all of us were very happy ki unka last match tha aur humne medal ke sath finish kiya," adds Harmanpreet who is now fondly referred to as ‘Sarpanch’ by not just his team but even PM Narendra Modi!
Sreejesh is still in Paris, to be the joint flag-bearer alongside shooter Manu Bhaker at the Paris 2024 Olympics Closing Ceremony. "Unka yeh last Olympics tha… Itna time unhone hockey ko diya. We've played together for 13 years and there are numerous things we shared in the changing rooms," shares midfielder Manpreet Singh, the former team captain who led the boys to Bronze finish in Tokyo 2020 Olympics.
Beyond their camaraderie, the players are full of gratitude for their family members who have been their pillar of strength in this journey. "My daughter, hockey ko jab bhi dekhti hai, hockey nahi bolti… woh papa bolti hai (smiles)," shares the flicker Harmanpreet, and defender Jarmanpreet Singh shares a similar sentiment as a father of a tiny tot: "Meri bachhi (Jind Kaur) jab aayi thi (was born), mera naam team mein aaya tha. Woh yahan hai aur mera Olympic medal aa gaya hai."
Most of these players feel it was the “quarter final match” against Great Britain that tested their limits to the core! “Jo quarter final tha tab mere dimag mein yeh aaya ki abhi jeet ke hi nikalna hai chahe jo marzi ho jaye,” says Jarmanpreet. Adding to this, forward player Gurjant Singh says, "Woh match mein hum sabka mindset tha ki bahut time se humne is tournament ka wait kiya hai. Humein jeetna hai chahe situation jaisi bhi hai... tab humara ek player kum tha aur last mein ek aur player ko red card mil gaya tha. We were just nine players on the ground in that match. At that moment we all thought ki abhi yeh match nahi nikala toh char saal aur wait karna padega agle medal ka!"
It was this thought and the cheering of Indian fans in the audience “who held the Tiranga” that boosted the morale of these men in blue. "Jab podium par naam announce hua tha toh meri family aur meri country ka sabse pehle khayal aaya," says forward player Sukhjeet Singh, adding, "This was my first Olympics. Ismein main apne desh aur meri family ke liye medal lekar aaya, yeh mere liye bahut badi baat hai."
