New Indian Express: Beenamol’s Felicitation Inspired Me, Says Sreejesh

By Krishnakumar KH

KOCHI: Sure, it was a small community of hockey lovers that had gathered inside the RK Shenoy Meditation Hall here on Thursday. And the subject of attention was a certain PR Sreejesh.

By all accounts, things have moved on from the time – less than a year ago – when the general public in Kerala hardly recognised the national hero in Sreejesh, the ebullient Indian hockey team goalkeeper.

Each speaker at the felicitation almost choked with emotion and admiration for his rise to be the national team’s vice-captain from a state where hockey is among the most neglected sports. Young and old interacted enthusiastically with a rare ‘easily accessible’ superstar and clicked selfies and group photographs.

For within the past one year, Sreejesh has made headlines every time something good happened to Indian hockey. He made brilliant saves to give India the Asian Games gold, helped the team qualify for Hockey World League final and is now the game’s latest Arjuna awardee. The latter has apparently brought him greater acclaim in his home state than the fact that the 27-year-old is rated among the best goalkeepers in world hockey. “Hard work, confidence and the desire to improve individually,” was his message for aspiring hockey players, even while recounting how he was inspired by a reception given to Olympian KM Beenamol at the GV Raja Sports School in Thiruvananthapuram. “I just wished it would be wonderful to get such a reception myself but I never thought that I would actually end up getting that kind of a reception,” he said.

To Sreejesh, the lonely world of the goalkeeper requires him to have an attitude like “water on the duck”. “Water never stays on the duck’s body. You have to leave behind all emotion and look forward to the next moment in the game if you concede a goal. That helps the goalkeeper to be always fresh,” he said.

While offering felicitations, Sreedhar Shenoy, a respected hockey coach in the state whose trainees in turn were Sreejesh’s coaches during the formative years, had this to say: “Sreejesh is a synonym for humility, hard work and determination.”