FIH Awards: Harmanpreet Singh wins Player Of The Year, Sreejesh best goalkeeper
India captain Harmanpreet Singh was adjudged as the FIH Player Of The Year while the legendary PR Sreejesh won the men’s Goalkeeper Of The Year award at the 49th FIH Statutory Congress in Oman on November 8, Friday.
Harmanpreet and Sreejesh played a crucial role in India’s bronze medal win at the Paris Olympics 2024. Yibbi Jansen of Netherlands was adjudged as the FIH Player Of The Year in the women’s category, while Ye Jiao of China was the women’s Goalkeeper Of The Year. The FIH Rising Stars of The Year award went to Zoe Daz of Argentina (women’s) and Sufyan Khan of Pakistan (men’s). For a second year in a row, China women’s head coach Alyson Annan (Australia) won the FIH Coach of The Year in the women’s category while Netherlands coach Jeroen Delmee took home the men’s one.
Harmanpreet had an incredible Olympics campaign as he was the top goalscorer in the tournament with 10 to his name. This was the Indian captain’s third FIH Player Of The Year award, having won it in 2020-21 and 2021-22.
What Harmanpreet and Sreejesh said
Harmanpreet paid a special tribute to his teammates for helping him win the award and also claimed winning the accolade in front of his wife and daughter was a special feeling.
“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. My wife and daughter are here today and receiving this award in front of them means the world to me. So thank you to everyone who made that possible!” said Harmanpreet.
Sreejesh was elated and like Harmanpreet, dedicated the award to his teammates.
“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,” said Sreejesh.
Sreejesh would retire after the Olympics this year and went on to become the Jr. men’s team head coach. He will also be seen in the Hockey India League as the mentor to the Delhi SG Pipers team. Harmanpreet will be representing the Soorma Hockey Club in the revamped HIL.