Veteran Indian hockey goalkeeper PR Sreejesh, recently won ‘World Games Athlete of the Year, 2021.

Key Facts

• PR Sreejesh was part of men’s team, which claimed a bronze medal in the Tokyo Olympics.
• He became only the second Indian to receive this award.
• He is the first man and second hockey player to win it. He followed the footsteps of compatriot and India women’s captain Rani.
• Captain Rani had won the award in 2019.

Total votes to Sreejesh

The global fan vote was conducted on “TheWorldGames.org”. He finished well clear at the top out of 24-strong nomination list. His won 1,27,647 votes, it was almost twice the number of votes to second-placed athlete, Albert Gines Lopez from Spain. Lopez won 67,428 votes.

The World Games

World Games is a multi-sport event, which is organised every four years by “International World Games Association” in association with the support of International Olympic Committee. The games are organised for over a period of 11 days, comprising of more than 30 sports on the programme.

When was Hockey featured?

Indoor Hockey was featured at the World Games, as an invitational sport in 2005. It took place in Duisburg, Germany. Hockey will also mark its presence with sports demonstrations during The World Games 2022, which is scheduled to take place in Birmingham, the USA from July 7 to July 17, 2022.

Who is Parattu Raveendran Sreejesh?

Parattu Raveendran Sreejesh is an Indian professional field hockey player. He plays as a goalkeeper. He was former captain of the Indian national team. He plays in Hockey India League for Uttar Pradesh Wizards. He played a significant role in Indian national team’s bronze medal win at 2020 Summer Olympics men’s field hockey tournament. He won FIH Player of the Year Awards in 2020–21, for best male goalkeeper.