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Prime Minister Narendra Modi hailed the Indian Hockey Team captain Harmanpreet Singh for giving memorable farewell to the goalkeeper PR Sreejesh. Notably, Sreejesh had announced that Paris Olympics will be his last tournament for India. The 36-year-old ended his career on a high as Indian hockey team ended up winning their second consecutive bronze medal at the Games.
India beat Spain by 2-1 in the bronze medal match to clinch successive medals in hockey in Olympics after a whopping 52 years. Recently, Sreejesh was asked about his retirement decision by PM Modi who hosted the entire Indian contingent from the Paris Olympics at his residence in Delhi.
Speaking about his decision, the legendary goalkeeper said that he was thinking about it for a number of years and Olympics was the best platform to retire.
“I was thinking about it for a few years. Even my team members were asking that when will you retire (laughs). But I was thinking that I have been playing for around 20 years for my team so I will retire from a good platform. So Olympics is one such platform where entire world celebrates sports. So we thought there’s no better decision that this,” said Sreejesh.
PM Modi also praised India skipper Harmanpreet Singh for giving a memorable farewell to Sreejesh along with other teammates.
“I must say that the team will miss you for sure. However, the way the team gave you farewell. I appreciate them, Sarpanch sahab (Harmanpreet Singh) did great,” said PM Modi.
Sreejesh also thanked his teammates for their hearfelt gesture after the game and revealed that he thanked everyone at the podium.
“We could only dream about it because it was hard for us when we lost the semi final. Because when we left for Paris, we had a clear goal to play the final and win gold. However, our dreams were shattered after losing the semi final and ahead of the bronze medal match everyone was saying we need to win it for Sree bhai. So, it’s the proudest moment for me that whatever I’ve done for my country and thanked my mates from the podium,” Sreejesh added.
