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Indian males’s hockey group goalkeeper Sreejesh on Tuesday printed that he performed more than a few sports activities, together with shot-put, prior to opting for hockey as his staple.

Sreejesh is expected to represent India in men's field hockey in Paris 2024.(Getty Images)
Sreejesh is predicted to constitute India in males’s box hockey in Paris 2024.(Getty Photographs)

In an interview with cricketer Dinesh Karthik on JioCinema’s ‘Get Set Gold’, Sreejesh disclosed why he selected to be a hockey goalkeeper – in order that he does now not need to run round just like the forwards or defenders. He was once glad doing a lap of the bottom after which simply blockading the photographs underneath the bar.

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“Hockey was once now not simple as a result of you wish to have to bend, you wish to have to play. That was once difficult for me. And over that, you wish to have to run. I used to be an obese man. I did not like operating in any respect. So, I’ve observed those goalkeepers in complete package, status in a nook and kicking the ball. I believed that was once beautiful humorous as a result of they are now not doing anything else. They are now not operating. They are simply dressed in the pad and kicking the ball. So, I believed this was once the appropriate place for me as a result of you do not wish to run. You might be part of the hockey group and you can get grace marks. That is how I turned into a goalkeeper,” the 36-year-old participant stated.

Alternatively, Sreejesh stated that if you wish to be a goalkeeper in hockey, it’s important to be fairly “loopy” to accomplish on the best possible degree.

“The goalkeeper needs to be a loopy particular person. Loopy, since you simply wish to have the center to face in entrance of that ball. The second one factor is aggression, you wish to have to be an competitive particular person, and the ones reflexes must be there. You do not get a lot time to simply assume, ‘Save.’ No, you simply wish to put it aside. Then you recognize, ‘Ok, I made that save'” Sreejesh stated.

The Indian males’s hockey group is headed to Paris in 2024 to construct at the improbable Bronze medal end in box hockey at Tokyo 2020. T20 International Cup winner Dinesh Karthik spoke to India males’s hockey goalkeeper PR Sreejesh on JioCinema’s ‘Get Set Gold’, the place the legend unfolded on his profession and the way he ended up as a hockey participant.

Sreejesh printed he needed to get thru another sports activities prior to coming throughout hockey.

“I used to be a shot-put athlete in my faculty days as a result of I used to be obese with a decrease top. So, my group was once higher than me. Then I went for soccer, however there have been a large number of soccer avid gamers already packed on that floor. I attempted volleyball, however I used to be now not excellent sufficient. Then I noticed hockey,” the goalkeeper stated.

Although he began enjoying hockey to check out and get grace marks on his Kerala State board examination, he moderately picked his lane when he learned he did not have the bodily equipment to be an outfield participant.

Sreejesh rewrote Indian hockey historical past, changing into the one males’s participant from India to win the International Video games Athlete of the 12 months (2021). The goalkeeper has gained 16 global medals, together with the Olympic Bronze (2020), two Asian Video games Gold medals (2014, 2022), two Commonwealth Video games Silver medals (2014, 2022), and 4 Asian Champions Trophy Gold medals (2011, 2016, 2018, 2023), amongst different accomplishments.

Sreejesh is predicted to constitute India in males’s box hockey in Paris 2024. India has been seeded with Belgium, Australia, Argentina, New Zealand, and Eire in Workforce B of the event, as they hope to make a deep run into the medal rounds.