Press Trust of India
New Delhi, August 27: Hockey team goalkeeper PR Sreejesh feels India need to go through tough tests against top teams to excel in next year’s Rio Olympics. Sreejesh dedicated his Arjun award to the whole team, and said his recognition will motivate him and his teammates to do well in upcoming tournaments.
“Hockey is a team game and I alone cannot bring medal for the country. We are ranked eighth in the world and one should not expect us to be a World Champion overnight. But yes this team has potential and we can beat any team on our day. No team is invincible in modern hockey and we have beaten teams like Australia and New Zealand.
“All we need is to gain more and more experience and tests against top teams. We need to fine tune our game like taking correct decisions in crucial moments to maintain the consistency level and must handle the pressure well. We must not succumb under the pressure of big matches. This will come with experience of playing more against big teams,” he said.
The experienced goalkeeper from Kerala, who has played 121 international matches for India, feels it was advantageous for India to qualify early for the Rio Games but they need to improve further to come up with better results in the mega-event.
India will tour New Zealand for a Test series next month while host Australia in October-November. They will also feature in the Hockey World League Finals later this year in Raipur.