'I know what happened...': PR Sreejesh's heartbreaking reaction to missing out on CWG gold

Team India goalkeeper PR Sreejesh has reacted to the national men’s hockey team’s defeat against Australia in the gold medal match for Men’s Hockey in Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games. In pursuit to end their 24-year-long wait for a CWG gold, the India men’s team suffered a 0-7 loss against defending champions Australia in the summit clash on Monday and settled with the silver medal. Meanwhile, veteran goalkeeper Sreejesh credited the team for a wonderful journey leading up to the CWG 2022 final and said he knows what happened.

“We didn’t win Gold. I know what happened, we know what happened, even you know what happened. ‘Thank you for your valuable advice,” Sreejesh said. He further added that the team deserved to win the silver medal. “Still..This team had a wonderful journey throughout the tournament. We deserve to celebrate this silver. Thank you all,” he wrote in his tweet.

Australia's 7th gold medal win at the Commonwealth Games

During the final on Monday, Australia won the match and added the seventh Commonwealth Games gold to their tally. It is pertinent to mention that Australia have won gold medals in every edition of CWG since Hockey was introduced as an event in 1998, which makes them the most successful team in the history of the quadrennial event. On the other hand, India claimed their third silver medal in Men’s Hockey at the CWG after settling with the 2nd place finish.

A look at the highlights of India vs Australia, Men's Hockey Final at CWG 2022

The mighty Australian side dominated the Indians throughout the match as Manpreet Singh’s team looked rusty with their approach. They ended up conceding too much space to Australia in the mid-field, allowing the defending champions to make inroads. While Team India was shaky with their defence, the midfield and forward-line lacked coordination.

Australia earned three penalty corners inside 9 minutes, as Blake Govers converted the fourth in the 10th minute. Nathan Ephraums scored another goal in with less than 2 minutes remaining in the 1st quarter, before Jacob Anderson’s strike at the 22nd minute handed the Aussies a 3-0 lead. India further went down by 5-0, courtesy of Tom Wickham and Anderson’s strikes before the first half ended. 

Ephraums scored another goal in the 42nd minute, while Flynn Ogilvie’s strike right at the start of the final quarter took Australia’s lead to 7-0. Meanwhile, this was 2nd medal win in CWG 2022 for India in hockey, after the women’s hockey team clinched the bronze medal. India finished their CWG 2022 campaign with a grand total of 61 medals.

(Image: @hockeyindia/Instagram)