'We missed the opportunity to upgrade our medal," Sreejesh after semis exit

In the aftermath of India's hard-fought semifinal match against Germany at the Paris Olympics, the emotions were palpable.

P.R. Sreejesh, the veteran goalkeeper, stood tall, reflecting on a game that saw India narrowly miss out on a place in the final.

The match ended with a 3-2 defeat, and for Sreejesh, playing his last international tournament, the result was a bitter pill to swallow.

"Both teams had enough opportunities," Sreejesh acknowledged to Jio Cinema.

"They availed theirs, and we missed ours. That's the one thing. We made a couple of errors in defense, especially on easy penalty corners and the goals in the dying seconds," he said.

Sreejesh also mentioned the importance of not making simple errors in such a high-stakes game.

"We can't give away such silly things during the game. In the opponent's half, we couldn't make that much of an impact in terms of scoring goals. They got the opportunities and they took them," he added.

Sreejesh emphasized the need for the team to move on quickly and focus on the upcoming bronze medal match against Spain.

"Rather than my situation, my team's situation is more important. The entire team has another opportunity to win a medal here. We need to forget about that, move on, bounce back, and prepare for the next game in a better way," he said.

When asked about his emotions, Sreejesh didn't hide his disappointment.

"The feeling that I've missed something that I really should have had... When you lose in a semifinal game, it's not that easy because once you are in the finals, you are fighting for the gold, and that's a dream of any athlete," he revealed.

"We've been working hard for the last three years to change the color of the medal we got last time, and we just missed that opportunity. It's heartbreaking because those days were hard," he added.

Sreejesh also took a moment to appreciate the support from the crowd.

"It's a fantastic crowd, a lot of diehard hockey fans. They were cheering for us throughout the day, giving us energy, and because of that, I think we came back into the game a lot," he mentioned.

He also didn't forget to congratulate fellow athlete Vinesh Phogat, who had reached the final in her event

Vinesh is a fighter. Despite what she's been through, she shows the world what caliber she has and what kind of fighter she is. I believe she's going to make it tomorrow for the entire country and make us proud," he concluded.