Tokyo Olympics: Best feeling to wear the India jersey, says hockey player PR Sreejesh

The men's hockey team, along with the other Indian athletes from the country's Olympic contingent, have arrived at the Tokyo Games with the opening ceremony scheduled for July 23. The atmosphere is an electrifying one with many stars out and about at the Tokyo Olympics. The Indian men's hockey team's goalkeeper, PR Sreejesh, called the Games a 'paradise' and spoke about how it is an amazing feeling to represent the country at the Olympics.

"It's like a festival," says Sreejesh

"It's like a festival. The entire world is watching. The best athletes, the biggest stars, all your role models are present. It is like paradise for any athlete," Sreejesh said during a recent conversation with the women's national football team's goalkeeper, Adit Chauhan, on AIFF TV.

He then mentioned that the Indian contingent usually stays together on a floor at the Village and that there are different floors for different countries; however, the interesting part for him is that everyone shares the dining area so they end up seeing a lot of other top athletes around.

He then added, "The top pros are always focused, they do not mingle much with the others till they finish their event. For the first-timers, it is exciting. Unfortunately this time, it will be a bit different because of COVID-19."

"Best feeling to wear the India Jersey"

Sreejesh made his debut back in 2006 and since then he has been a vital cog in the Indian team and is widely regarded as the best goalkeeper in the sport. He also captained the Indian team at the Rio Olympics 2016, where they managed to finish in the top 8. Sreejesh then talked about his previous Olympic memories and recalled how they had to miss the 2016 Rio opening ceremony as they had a match the next day but he added that it was 'the best feeling' to wear the Indian jersey and listening to the National Anthem after they'd walk out would bring about a 'number of emotions'.

"Definitely, the anthem pumps you up, it energies you. But as a senior player, you need to control the youngsters. Once the anthem is done, you cheer each other up, maybe wave to the crowd a bit, but after that, you need to get down to business. No more distractions on the pitch. There are fans shouting from all directions, maybe some opponents are snarling at you, or are saying things to put you off. So one needs to stay focused," said Sreejesh.

(Image Credits: @16Sreejesh - Twitter)