Still revelling in India's triumph against Pakistan in the Asian Games hockey final, "The Wall of Indian Hockey" goalkeeper PR Sreejesh said that he had entered the field with an intuition to win but keeping his emotions under check was the key to a great performance
Goalkeeper PR Sreejesh takes a selfie with teammates after India's 4-2 win over Pakistan in the hockey final in Incheon on Thursday. Pic/AFP.
New Delhi: Still revelling in India's triumph against Pakistan in the Asian Games hockey final, "The Wall of Indian Hockey" goalkeeper PR Sreejesh said that he had entered the field with an intuition to win but keeping his emotions under check was the key to a great performance.
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Goalkeeper PR Sreejesh takes a selfie with teammates after India's 4-2 win over Pakistan in the hockey final in Incheon on Thursday. Pic/AFP.
“When I entered the ground the only thought came in my mind was that we have to win this and we can win this. I had an intuition that it will be our day and we will create history,” Sreejesh told PTI from Incheon.
A spirited India edged past defending champions Pakistan 4-2 in a nerve-wracking shoot-out to regain the Asiad men’s hockey gold after a gap of 16 years and also sealed a direct entry into the 2016 Rio Olympic Games.
Hero of the match Sreejesh, who excelled in regulation time and shoot out as well, said that handling pressure is always key. “There was pressure as it was a match against Pakistan but I took it as any other normal match. Everyone including me did not let emotions dominate us and we played with passion. That was our key to success,” he said.
It was not an easy task to cope up with additional pressure while playing the final against a side which had also beaten them in the league phase, but Sreejesh opined that the first loss was an eye opener.
“The loss against Pakistan in pool phase was an eye opener. After that we worked harder and were more focused that resulted in semi-final win against strong team like Korea,” he said.
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