PR Sreejesh, Indian Hockey Team Goalkeeper, Wins World Games Athlete of the Year 2021 Title

Lausanne (Switzerland), Jan 31: Seasoned goalkeeper PR Sreejesh, who performed an important function as India males's staff claimed a primary Olympic medal in over 4 many years when it received bronze finally years Olympic Games in Tokyo, has been named as The World Games Athlete of the Year for 2021. In a world fan vote performed on TheWorldGames.org, Sreejesh completed nicely clear at the high of the 24-strong nomination record, together with his tally of 1,27,647 votes being virtually twice as many as the second-placed athlete, Spain's Sport Climbing ace Albert Ginés Lopez, who garnered 67,428 votes. Charanjit Singh, Hockey Legend, Dies at 90 Sreejesh turns into the second hockey participant to win the award, following in the footsteps of compatriot and India ladies's captain Rani, who took the 2019 prize, the FIH mentioned in a launch on Monday. Speaking about the Award, the shot-stopper -- who was additionally voted as FIH Goalkeeper of the Year for 2021 -- mentioned: "I'm very honoured to win this award. First of all, a giant thanks to FIH for nominating me for this award, and secondly because of all the Indian hockey lovers round the world, who voted for me. "By getting nominated I did my part, but the rest was done by the fans and hockey lovers. So, this award goes to them, and I think they deserve this award more than me. It's a big moment for Indian Hockey as well because everyone in the hockey community, all the hockey federations around the world voted for me, so it's great to see that support from the hockey family," Sreejesh, a veteran of 244 senior worldwide matches, was quoted as saying by the FIH. The three-time Olympian additional added, "Also, I am a person who doesn't believe in individual awards, especially when you are part of a team. It's not only the team of 33 players, but you have a lot of people involved behind as well, there's coaching staff, there's support staff, there's a great association like Hockey India who is supporting you a lot, there's Sports Authority of India (SAI), who are providing you with all the world-class facilities to train, there's Odisha Government whose unwavering support helps the sport grow and flourish and there's India Olympic Association (IOA) as well, who're taking care of you really well. So, it's a collective effort of a nation to get this kind of recognition." FIH Chief Executive Officer Thierry Weil mentioned: "On behalf of the global hockey community, I'd like to wholeheartedly congratulate PR Sreejesh for this magnificent achievement. This is a great recognition for him, for his team and for hockey as a whole. We also extend our sincerest thanks to all fans who voted for him. Athletes are the best ambassadors of our sport and India's goalkeeper certainly is a leader in this field too. We look forward to seeing him in action again in just a few days for the third edition of the FIH Hockey Pro League!" Congratulating Sreejesh, Hockey India President Gyanendro Ningombam mentioned, "On behalf of Hockey India, I congratulate Sreejesh for winning the prestigious World Games Athlete of the Year 2021 Award. This is a very proud and special moment for India as he became the only second Indian athlete to win this honour. I would like to thank FIH, the hockey community around the world, and of course, all his fans for supporting him and voting him to win this award. It's a big achievement for him as well as to Indian hockey." The World Games is a multi-sport occasion staged each 4 years by the International World Games Association with the assist of the International Olympic Committee. The World Games are staged over a interval of 11 days, with greater than 30 sports activities in the programme. Indoor Hockey was featured as an invitational sport at The World Games in 2005, which happened in Duisburg, Germany. Hockey may have a presence with sports activities demonstrations throughout The World Games 2023, which takes place in Birmingham, the USA between July 7-17, 2023. (The above story first appeared on SociallyKeeda on Jan 31, 2023 08:44 PM IST. For more information and updates on politics, world, sports activities, entertainment and life-style, go online to our web site sociallykeeda.com).