New Delhi: Goalkeeper P.R. Sreejesh, the hero of Indian men hockey team’s gold winning performance in the Incheon Asian Games, Wednesday said watching the video of Pakistan’s semi-final win over Malaysia via penalty shootout helped him in the final against the archrivals.
“Before the final, I watched the video clips of the Pakistan’s victory in the semi-final against Malaysia as part of my preparation. That helped me a lot in understanding how our rival’s strikers move and which angle they look to create goal during the shootout,” Sreejesh said during the Hero Motocorp’s felicitation ceremony of the hockey team.
“Also while practicing the penalty shootout before the final, I was successful in most of the attempts. So, I was confident about my game going into the shootout in the title clash,” Sreejesh added.
The Indian vice-captain also said that he didn’t think about the pressure in the final.
“During the shootout, I didn’t think about the pressure. There was a sense of responsibility within me that time,” he said. Sreejesh hoped that the team continues to make progress in years to come.
“I believe it is a start of things to come. We need to sustain the good work that we have done in the past one year. We need to be more consistent with our game and we should make regular progress in order to be called a major force in the world,” he said.
“We have two years left for the Rio Olympics and I believe that till then we must improve our game further. We know that it will take time for us to start beating teams like Australia, Holland and Germany,” he said.
Meanwhile, with awards and rewards continuing to flow in for the Asiad gold-winning Indian hockey team, Hero Motocorp Ltd on Wednesday felicitated the Sardar Singh-led side and gave away cash prizes for their supreme showing at Incheon.
The two-wheeler manufacturer rewarded each member of the team with Rupees 200,000 and a 225cc Hero ZMR bike. The company also rewarded each support staff of the team with Rs 100,000.
