Dhanraj Pillay had tears of heartbreak when India missed out on a potential semi-final berth at Sydney Olympics conceding a goal against Poland in the dying moments after leading for 69 minutes. That was closest that Dhanraj, an all-time hockey great had come to an Olympic medal.

On Sunday, as India doggedly defended for 42 minutes with nine men on the outfield and the special man named PR Sreejesh, who keeps raising the “bar”, the former centre forward couldn’t hold back his tears watching his team make it to the semi-finals of the Paris Olympics. “I couldn’t stop my tears. I have never seen such performance in many years, and now I am convinced that this team can bring us the Olympic gold after 44 years,” the former India skipper said.