Mobilenews24x7 Bureau
New Delhi, Jan 31 : Indian men’s hockey team stalwart goalkeeper PR Sreejesh on Monday won the World Games Athlete of the Year Award. Sreejesh became just the second Indian athlete after Indian Women’s Hockey stalwart Rani Rampal to win this prestigious award.
In 2019, Rani became the first from India to win the World Games Athlete of the Year with 1,99,477 votes. The winner of this prestigious award was adjudged through the online voting process and Sreejesh accumulated a mammoth 1,27,647 votes to bag this award. A total of 24 athletes from 17 countries were nominated for this award from their respective sports by their international federations.
The International Hockey Federation (FIH) had recommended Sreejesh’s name for his outstanding efforts in the year 2021. “I am very honoured to win this award. First of all, a big thank you to FIH for nominating me for this award, and secondly thanks to all the Indian hockey lovers around 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, definitely, this award goes to them, and I think they deserve this award more than me,” said Sreejesh.
“It is 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,” he added.
Congratulating Sreejesh, Hockey India President Shri Gyanendro Ningombam said: “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.”
Thierry Weil, International Hockey Federation CEO, also congratulated the Indian goalkeeper and said: “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,” Weil added.
