Former Indian goalkeeper P.R. Sreejesh was named the ‘Men’s Goalkeeper Of The Year’ while skipper Harmanpreet Singh won the ‘Men’s Player Of The Year’ award for the 2023-24 season, announced the International Hockey Federation (FIH) on Friday.
Both players won in their respective categories for the third time in their careers.
Harmanpreet, 28, led the country to its second straight bronze medal at the Olympics in Paris this year where he was also the top scorer with 10 goals. Under his captaincy, India also won the Asian Champions Trophy for the second year in a row.
“First off, I would like to thank FIH for this great honour. After the Olympics it was so great to go back home and have such huge crowds there to greet us and welcome us. It was a very very special feeling. I would like to mention my teammates, none of this would have been possible without you all. Special thanks to Hockey India as well for always giving us every opportunity to succeed at all levels,” said the Indian hockey captain.
Sreejesh faced 62 shots across eight games at the Olympics and saved 50 of them. He proved to be the hero of the quarterfinal against Great Britain where he helped the team win 4-2 in the penalty shootout. The 36-year-old retired from the sport after the tournament.
Thanking those that have helped him along his career, PR Srejeesh said: “I am so happy today. Thank you for this last playing honour of my playing career. As most people know, Paris 2024 was the last tournament I played for my country and I just want to thank Hockey India for all the support and guidance offered over all the years I have played the sport. This award completely belongs to my team, the defence who made sure most attacks never got to me, and the midfielders and forwards who covered up my mistakes by scoring more goals than I conceded.”
The award winners were decided on the basis of voting by an Expert Panel, National Associations – represented by their respective national teams’ captains and coaches – fans and media.
Harmanpreet’s score was 63.84 per cent, comfortably ahead of Dutchman Joep de Mol (16.10 per cent) who finished second.
Similarly, Sreejesh, with a score of 62.22 per cent, easily beat Dutch goalkeeper Pirmin Blaak (22.17 per cent), who also retired from international hockey after the title-winning run at Paris Olympics.
