India’s PR Sreejesh and Savita Punia on Wednesday have been voted FIH Males’s and Girls’s Goalkeeper of the 12 months respectively for the second yr working, on the again of their sturdy reveals below the bar.
In his sixteenth yr as a full worldwide for India, Sreejesh as soon as once more confirmed his worth to the workforce, enjoying in all 16 video games within the FIH Hockey Professional League as India completed within the third place.
He additionally performed in all six video games at 2022 Birmingham Commonwealth Video games the place India received the silver medal.
“The longevity of PR Sreejesh’s profession continues to defy logic because the 34-year-old Indian shot-stopper continues to lift his sport because the years roll on,” the FIH mentioned in an announcement on Sreejesh, who had additionally received the award final yr.
Sreejesh received 39.9 complete factors within the voting, adopted by Belgium’s Loic van Doren (26.3 factors) and Netherlands’ Primin Blaak (23.2 factors). The votes have been solid online by consultants (40%), groups (20%), followers (20%) and media (20%).
Sreejesh is the third participant to win back-to-back FIH Goalkeeper of the 12 months award. An analogous feat was achieved previously by David Harte (Eire) who received the award in 2015 and 2016, and Vincent Vanasch (Belgium) who received it three consecutive instances from 2017 to 2019.
“Little doubt, this can be a particular award as a result of the hockey followers are voting for us. It is a large honour for me and a sworn statement to all of the arduous work”
— mentioned Sreejesh
Through the course of the season, Sreejesh additionally accomplished 250 worldwide appearances, turning into the eighth Indian and the one goalkeeper to realize the feat.
“Little doubt, this can be a particular award as a result of the hockey followers are voting for us. It is a large honour for me and a sworn statement to all of the arduous work,” mentioned Sreejesh who's at the moment on the SAI Centre, Bengaluru alongside along with his teammates within the nationwide camp for the upcoming FIH Hockey Professional League.
“Successful awards, irrespective of at what stage in your profession you're at, is all the time a motivating issue. This award certainly motivates me to additional enhance and do nicely in an all-important yr the place we are going to play the FIH Hockey Males’s World Cup Bhubaneswar-Rourkela 2023.”
The 32-year-old Savita completed on prime of the voting with 37.6 factors. Argentina legend Belén Succi acquired second most factors with 26.4, adopted by Australia stalwart Jocelyn Bartam (16 factors).
“This certainly is an enormous shock and a really nice one. I'm positive many Indian hockey followers voted for us and I thank every one in every of them”
— mentioned Savita
Savita is now solely the third athlete to win the Goalkeeper of the 12 months (ladies) for consecutive years for the reason that inception of the award in 2014.
“This certainly is an enormous shock and a really nice one. I'm positive many Indian hockey followers voted for us and I thank every one in every of them,” mentioned Savita who's at the moment enjoying for Haryana within the Nationwide Video games in Gujarat.
Savita was instrumental in main India to a podium end within the FIH Hockey Professional League 2021-22, of their debut marketing campaign, pulling off an astounding 57 saves within the 14 video games she performed.
Her type solely improved on the FIH Hockey Girls’s World Cup, as she pulled off some unimaginable saves as India held the eventual gold medallists England to a draw within the pool levels. She additionally had a outstanding sport within the cross-over match towards Spain, making seven saves that had the viewers rubbing their eyes in disbelief.
Savita then impressed the workforce to bronze medal within the 2022 CWG in Birmingham, as India ended a 16-year podium drought on the Video games. She had a stellar sport within the bronze medal match towards New Zealand, which included a number of match-winning saves within the shoot-out.
“Savita was magnificent in protection of the Indian objective, usually astounding her opponents along with her means to tug off saves from inconceivable conditions. It due to this fact comes as no shock that she acquired almost twice as many votes from her friends world wide, as anybody else nominated in the most effective goalkeeper class on the FIH Hockey Stars Awards,” the FIH mentioned.
“Savita’s win comes from her goalkeeping heroics, however her impression on her workforce looms even bigger, as not solely is she the spine of the Indian protection, but additionally performs a vital function in main the facet, having taken over captaincy from the talismanic Rani Rampal, who missed massive elements of the earlier yr as a consequence of damage.”
On Tuesday, India ahead Mumtaz Khan was voted the FIH Girls’s Rising Star of the 12 months on the again of her stellar function throughout the nation’s marketing campaign on the Junior World Cup in South Africa earlier this yr.
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