Veteran India hockey goalkeeper Parattu Raveendran (PR) Sreejesh (33) from Kerala won The World Games Athlete of the Year 2021 for his performances 2021. With this he became the 1st Indian man & 2nd Indian to receive this accolade after Indian women's hockey captain Rani Rampal who became the first Indian to win this in 2020. He will receive a trophy and prize from the official sponsor of The World Games Athlete of the Year, i.e.i Protective Life.
Background history:
i. For this award, he has surpassed Alberto Gines Lopez (Climber) of Spain and Italy's wushu player Michele Giordano. He has grabbed 1,27,647 votes, whereas Alberto and Michele Giordano accumulated 67,428 and 52,046 votes respectively.
ii. He was the only Indian nominated and was recommended by the International Hockey Federation (FIH).
iii. In the FIH Stars Awards in October 2021, PR Sreejesh was named as the Goalkeeper of the year 2021.
iv. He has represented India in 244 senior international matches.
After getting award PR Sreejesh speaks:
"By getting nominated I did my part, but the rest was done by the fans and hockey lovers. So, this award goes to them, and I think they deserve this award more than me. It's 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," Sreejesh, a veteran of 244 international matches, was quoted as saying by the FIH.
The three-time Olympian further added, "Also, I am a person who doesn't believe in individual awards, especially when you are part of a team. It's not only the team of 33 players,but you have a lot of people involved behind as well, there's coaching staff, there's support staff, there's a great association like Hockey India who is supporting you a lot, there's Sports Authority of India (SAI), who are providing you with all the world-class facilities to train, there's Odisha Government whose unwavering support helps the sport grow and flourish and there's India Olympic Association (IOA) as well, who're taking care of you really well. So, it's a collective effort of a nation to get this kind of recognition."
FIH Chief Executive Officer Thierry Weil 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. We look forward to seeing him in action again in just a few days for the third edition of the FIH Hockey Pro League!"
Congratulating Sreejesh, Hockey India President Gyanendro Ningombam said, "On behalf of Hockey India, I congratulate Sreejesh for winning the prestigious World Games Athlete of the Year 2021 Award. This is a very proud and special moment for India as he became only the 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."
The World Games is a multi-sport event staged every four years by the International World Games Association with the support of the International Olympic Committee. The World Games are staged over a period of 11 days, with more than 30 sports in the programme.
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