Tokyo Olympics: Sreejesh elated after winning gold medal: 'Rebirth of hockey in India'

Tokyo, August 5: India hockey star and now an Olympics medal winner goalkeeper PR Sreejesh was elated after the team won bronze as he stated that it's the rebirth of the sport in the country.

It took 41 years, but the dream of every Indian was finally realised on Thursday (August 5) after the men's hockey team defeated Germany 5-4 to win the bronze medal at the Oi Hockey Stadium -- North Pitch.

The Men in Blue showed absolute resilience and strength to register a remarkable comeback win against a strong German team.

For India, experienced Sreejesh again came to the rescue for the team after fittingly saving Germany's 13th penalty corner of the match in the final seconds of the match to ensure a historic bronze for the team.

"It's a rebirth. That's it. It's been 41 years. In 1980 we won the last medal and after that, nothing. Today when we won it, this gives a boost and gives energy to the youngsters to pick up hockey, play this game," Olympics.com quoted Sreejesh after the win.

"This is a beautiful game. Now, we are giving a reason for them to pick up hockey, play the game and make the country more proud than this," the three-time Olympian pointed.

For India, Simranjeet Singh (17th and 34th minutes) and Harmanpreet Singh (27th and 29th) scored braces while Rupinder Pal Singh (31st) slotted in a penalty stroke.

Timor Oruz (2nd), Niklas Wellen (24th), Benedikt Furk (25th) and Lukas Windfeder (48th) scored for Germany in a very tightly contested match.

The India men's hockey team's Australian coach Graham Reid praised the team for finding the next level of performance when they were down 1-3.

"Before the game I asked the guys to make sure they bring the next level if something happens, for example, if you are down, you need to bring the next level of play and they did that very well," Reid explained.

"(It is) never over until it is over. It's always easy to say you should be doing this or that but there are lots of things that go on," he added when asked about the penalty corner that India conceded just six seconds from the final hooter.

"It has been one of the signatures of this team, which we have tried to develop and make sure that we can always come back and I think we did that."

Reid was effusive in his praise for veteran custodian P R Sreejesh, who stood like a wall in the face of unrelenting German attacks.

"Having someone like Sreejesh in the goal is nice, glad that we didn't have to go into a shootout. He is a stalwart of Indian hockey. He has done a lot of work in the background to get to where he is," he said.

Reid also said he was absolutely thrilled to be a part of India's bronze winning campaign, saying the sport meant a lot to the people of India. The Aussie also hoped that the medal winning effort will spur hockey to a whole new level in the country.