New Delhi, July 17 (UNI) Former India Hockey great PR Sreejesh feels that India's poor show at the European leg of the FIH Pro League 2024-25 is a wakeup call ahead of Asia Cup in August.
India finished eighth on the FIH Pro League 2024-25 points table after suffering seven successive losses in the European leg of the tour.
Speaking to the Press on the side-lines of the launch event of the 20th Vedanta Delhi Half marathon yesterday evening he said
"I think the team performed well, we created a lot of opportunities, we gave very good fight on the field but sometimes it happens, the result went against us but the result went against us. This result is a very good wake up call for us ahead of the Asia Cup, and other crucial tournaments like the World Cup and Asia games next year."
The Asia Cup will be held in Rajgir, from August 27 to September 7, 2025. The Hockey World Cup will be jointly hosted by Belgium and the Netherlands in August 14–30, 2026 while the Asian Games will be held from September 19 to October 4, 2026.
Sreejesh, who won the 'World Games Athlete of the Year' in 2021 expressed happiness that more and more people are taking to running as a way to stay healthy
"Every year more people are joining and running (in the Delhi Half Marathon) is becoming more popular, it’s exiting, people should challenge themselves, get into the rhythm."
The two time Olympic medallist who is now the Head Coach of India men's national U-21 team said that as a coach one of his main job is to ensure that the players learn how to handle pressure
"As a coach my job is to take the pressure off the players, I tell them that during the Junior World Cup 10 thousand odd people will be cheering and yelling at you, accept these things, being a coach sharing my playing experience with the players is very important" he said.
The 2025 Men's FIH Hockey Junior World Cup will be held in Chennai from November 28 to December 10, 2025.
UNI RKM