Pro League was a wake-up call ahead of next year's Asian Games and World Cup: Sreejesh on Indian hockey team's struggles
India struggled in the European leg of the Pro League and finished eighth out of nine teams to avoid relegation by a whisker.
But Sreejesh, who was part of India's bronze medal-winning sides in Tokyo and Paris Olympics, felt that the players didn't perform too badly but, unfortunately, the results didn't favour the team.
'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 on the sidelines of the launch of 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. 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 Paris Games, Sreejesh is now the coach of the Indian men's junior hockey team and is enjoying his new role.
'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. 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,' he said.
India is set to host the FIH Junior World Cup in Chennai and Madurai from November 28 till December 10 this year, and Sreejesh is leaving no stone unturned to prepare 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 up to 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 clubbed with Pakistan, Chile and Switzerland in Pool B at the Junior World Cup.
Even though uncertainty looms large over Pakistan's participation in the Junior World Cup owing to tensions between the two countries following Operation Sindoor, Sreejesh doesn't want to focus on one 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 moto is to gather as much points as you can to ensure your place in the quarterfinals and from there the main tournament starts.'
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Of course, every format has its own pros and cons, but this one, I think, it really put us in that situation where we experienced what it felt like to give it (our) all and it was the last one where we could really prove ourselves. So, I think because of that, I was able to perform well enough. And that really brings me very nicely to my next question because you spoke about the Olympic trials. What is your take on sort of the current pool of Indian female pistol shooters, because it's a very, very strong pool, a very strong field currently in the 10m and the 25m. There is yourself, Palak, Rhythm, Suruchi is really making waves, there's Manu of course. Would you say the competition is quite fierce and that drives you and the others to be the very best version of yourselves, in every single event? Absolutely, I do. I think not just that, I'm also so proud to say that I'm one of the girls from the Indian team. I am so proud of my teammates. Despite them being my competitors, I admire them so much because of the achievements they have had. We have Suruchi (Phogat) coming up. She is a phenomenal shooter. I would encourage everyone to watch a match of hers. She's so different and I don't think I've ever seen someone like her before. I think we, as a group really push each other. If you have good enough competition, that's where you (can) get the talent from. If you don't have someone you can compete with at the domestic level, then you don't have that motivation to go and play. And such people give you that feeling of competition and that is where you really get to push through your limits and find out how much you can really perform. Absolutely. In fact, and that reminds me of something else that I wanted to perhaps discuss with you. Healthy rivalry and competition, it motivates a lot of at. Some are different, but most athletes they are motivated by this. Historically, if you look at the US track team or the Australian swim team, they are full of examples of athletes like that - the inter-personal, very healthy kind of competition, that boosts both confidence and that killer attitude while competing. Do you see yourself as someone like that? Does the drive to be the best in the group really motivate you? How I look at it, how my parents, my dad especially, has taught me to look at the (internal) competition in an individual sport - it's a bit confusing to understand how you really (should) be around (your) teammates. Because, this (shooting sport) is not a team-sport. It's not like football where, everyone has to work together in harmony. It's more like everyone is a competitor, even if they are from your own country. So, it's quite confusing (sometimes) to (understand how to) behave with them (teammates). Do you get close? Do you not get close? But how I see it is - they are my teammates and it is an individual sport. Yes, they are my competitors, but at the same time, it won't matter how you are with them because when you're at the lane, it's your game, it's your hand, it's your gun. They can't do anything to you and you can't do anything to them. So, I think a healthy rivalry at the end of the day is much better. If they win, you, just be happy for them because you gave it all and they gave it all. And if it worked out for them, just, it's good for them. I don't think having that (attitude) 'they won, I didn't win and I don't like this'. That never helps anyone grow. How much has the Gun for Glory Academy helped you? The academy staff overall, Gagan (Narang) and other coaches and the role that they have played in shaping your athletic career so far… I am pretty sure I wouldn't be where I am (today) if it wasn't for 'Gun for Glory' (Shooting Academy co-founded by Olympic medallist Gagan Narang). 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My first coach was from there. His name was Hiren. He was from Gujarat, but he was living in Pune. He was my first coach. He taught me shooting. They would have so many competitions going on in the gun for Gloria Academy itself. Then we had 'Project Leap' (a programme that was started in 2017 by the Gagan Narang Sports Promotion Foundation in collaboration with Olympic Gold Quest and one that aims to improve the technical, physical & mental skill levels of the athletes in order to help them jump-start their National and international shooting careers) which was a very, very important part of my life. This was a project where, you know, they introduced foreign coaches, who would come and polish the really good shooters at the academy. You had to play trials to attend the camps to get into the team for 'Project Leap' So I played those trials. So, you see how these competitions really gave me that experience of like fighting for and getting into the team. And then we had the foreign coach. He polished my skills quite a lot and I shared a good bond with him. I think a lot of my basic skills were honed at the 'Project Leap' camp, because I was quite young and that's when I won that gold in the Nationals (in 2018, a 13-year-old Esha became the youngest ever National champion in the 10m Air Pistol senior event, beating Manu Bhaker, who finished second. She also won golds in the youth and junior categories of the same event) and everybody got to know about me. So, 'Gun for Glory' has played a massive role in my career. You mentioned Gagan and the role that he has played, along with his academy in shaping your career. He is of course one of the Indian shooters who have been huge inspirations for youngsters and given the country some real watershed moments in the sport of shooting. One such achievement, and in many ways the one that broke the dam for Indian shooting to really come into its own, was way back in 2004 when Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore won the silver medal in Athens. I remember going to the airport when he came back with the medal. You must have been about a year old at that time… Esha: Oh, I wasn't even born then (laughs). You weren't born yet, right! But if you had to look back at say the last five or six years - how much has the landscape of Indian shooting changed according to you, for the better, in this phase? Of course, India has become a massive shooting powerhouse. The ISSF has in fact awarded hosting rights for the World Cup (Rifle/Pistol/Shotgun) in 2027 and the ISSF Junior World Championship (Rifle/Pistol/Shotgun) in 2028 to India… I think one thing that I like about the Federation in shooting and the people in shooting is - as you know, in between, we did not win any (shooting) medals in, Rio (2016 Olympics) and Tokyo (2021 Olympics) and we did face quite a backlash. But I think our people took it in a different way, rather than get upset (about it). We used that in a way to see how we should actually improve, what went wrong and we never gave up or felt like we didn't do enough. Of course, nobody goes there to perform badly. Everybody's dream is to win and see the flag being raised high. So, we actually used that (disappointment) to improve more and more. Because I also played the Olympic trials in 2021, as a 16-year-old, I have seen in all these years the amount of improvement. They really do take your feedback. Shooters wanted psychologists, they got them psychologists. We have so many physios travelling with us. We have everything we need when we go outside for a competition. There's not one thing we can complain about.
