On Monday, Parattu Ravindran Sreejesh came to know that he will soon be an Olympian. The goalkeeper was included in the Indian hockey team for the London games. The 23-year-old will be Kerala's first home-grown hockey player to compete in Olympics.
A product of the G.V. Raja Sports School in Thiruvananthapuram, he has been a regular member of the Indian team for the last four years and his selection did not come as a total surprise. Sreejesh and Bharat Chettri had been swapping places under the bar for India in the last few tournaments. The Kerala player recently figured in the Sultan Azlan Shah tournament in Malaysia in which India finished third.
“Olympics was my childhood dream. It is also a big boost for Kerala hockey. I am proud of this feat. Hopefully, my selection will be a motivation for all the young hockey players in the State,” said Sreejesh.
An athlete-turned-goalkeeper, Sreejesh's tryst with hockey began when he was asked to wear the keeper's gear during a selection trial by coach K. Jayakumar who was impressed with the player's physique.
Kerala was the whipping boy in the junior nationals then and the sheer number of hits he took on his body earned him recognition as a courageous keeper in the hockey circles. This facet brought him into national reckoning though he continued to be ingot a break despite attending around 20 national camps. The break finally came in 2008 when he was picked for the Junior World Cup in Rotterdam. And he has never looked back since then.
His sangfroid under the bar helped India end its title draught at continental level last year when he made two crucial saves in the final against Pakistan as India won the Asian Champions Trophy in Ordos, China.
Sreejesh has often attributed his confidence during penalty corner drills and penalty strokes to the battering he took on his body during his junior days.
Now that he has realised his childhood dream, Sreejesh will be hoping for a fairy tale end in London by helping the country win the elusive the Olympic gold medal.
