Pro League Hockey Gave India Very Good Wake-Up Call: PR Sreejesh
Former India captain P R Sreejesh views the FIH Pro League as a wake-up call for India's hockey team before the Asian Games and World Cup.
Former India captain and goalkeeping stalwart P R Sreejesh believes the recently concluded FIH Pro League served as a valuable wake-up call for the men's national hockey team ahead of next year's Asian Games and World Cup.
India struggled during the European leg of the Pro League, finishing eighth out of nine teams and narrowly avoiding relegation.
However, Sreejesh, who was part of India's bronze medal-winning teams at the Tokyo and Paris Olympics, felt the players performed well, but the results did not favour them.
'I think the players performed really well, we created lot of opportunities. We gave very good fight on the field but sometimes it happens the result went against us," Sreejesh said during the launch of the Vedanta Delhi Half Marathon on Wednesday night.
'The preparation was perfect but unfortunately the result was not perfect for us but the coaches have enough time to prepare the team for the Asia Cup and definitely next year the Asian Games and World Cup is there." he added.
'I think this Pro League gave us a very good wake-up call to prepare and to be on our toes to prepare for World Cup and Asian Games," he added.
The Asian Games will be hosted by Aichi-Nagoya in Japan from September 19 to October 4, while the World Cup will be jointly organised by the Netherlands and Belgium from August 15 to 30.
Post-retirement after the Paris Games, Sreejesh is now coaching the Indian men's junior hockey team and is enjoying this new phase of his career.
'Same routine, when you wake up early in the morning it's about preparing the players, ensure they are doing their best and rest of the day prepare for the next session, analysing the players." he said.
'The only thing is that I am stressing my mind more now, earlier I used to stress my physical part but now it's about my mental part. But I am enjoying," Sreejesh remarked.
India is set to host the FIH Junior World Cup in Chennai and Madurai from November 28 to December 10 this year, and Sreejesh is leaving no stone unturned in preparing his players.
'For them (players) the biggest challenge is Junior World Cup because four-nation tournaments and stuffs like that are not going to throw enough pressure on them as the Junior World Cup. My duty is to share my experience with them, how to prepare for a big tournament, big matches," he said.
'I faced enough pressure being a player and now being a coach I think it is upto me to take that pressure from the players . I am helping them to be realistic. Being a coach sharing experience as a player is more important."
India is grouped alongside Pakistan, Chile, and Switzerland in Pool B for the Junior World Cup.
Even though uncertainty looms over Pakistan's participation in the Junior World Cup due to tensions between the two countries following Operation Sindoor, Sreejesh prefers not to focus on any particular team.
'We are in the same pool (India and Pakistan) but I don't want my players to think about one particular team," he said.
'Any tournament starts from the quarterfinals, the main motto is to gather as much points as you can to ensure your place in the quarterfinals and from there the main tournament starts."
With PTI Inputs
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