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Sreejesh and Savita - Saviours of Indian hockey at the grandest stage of the world

Standing ground firmly and saving the Indian hockey team from multiple attacks, the goalkeepers of the two sides - Sreejesh and Savita are the real saviours.

Sreejesh and Savita - Saviours of Indian hockey at the grandest stage of the world
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By

Sohinee Basu

Updated: 2 Aug 2021 5:03 PM GMT

'Striker, ready?'

'Goalie, ready?'

~ whistle ~

And, whoosh, there goes the drag of the hockey stick as the ball rushes towards the goal-keeper, locked in a one-on-one moment, the pressure scaling up tremendously as the ball tries to slip past the goalie's grasp and into the post and score that goal but no, a quick, reflex move of the arms, the swift action of the legs and the blocking with the body of the goalie and SAVE, phew!

Sounds like a familiar cinematic sequence spiked generously with adrenaline, right? Well, for the veteran duo of PR Sreejesh and Savita Punia, this sequence, in multiple variations, has become their daily routine at the ongoing Tokyo Olympics.

Penning history with their saves, the two trusted goal-keepers of the Indian Men's and Women's hockey team respectively, PR Sreejesh and Savita Punia have been at the helm of their teams and have played an instrumental role in pivoting them into the pages of history - one roaring win at a time.

First, the Indian Men's Hockey team began the history-making spree when they edged past Great Britain in the quarter-finals and booked themselves a semi-finals berth against World Champion's Belgium after nearly half a century (49 years, to be exact), the Indian women's hockey team brought Chak De! India magic to life as they stormed past a superior Australian side to enter their first semi-finals at the Tokyo Olympics - and much of these victories were due to the couple of goalies - the 35-year-old Sreejesh and the 31-year-old Savita Punia.


Meet Savita 'The Wall' Punia


Savita Punia (Source: PTI)

Entering the match as the underdogs, the Indian women's hockey team were predicted not to have too many chances against the World No. 2 Australian side. With 3 Olympic wins to their name, the Hockeyroos are a formidable team on any given day and it would have taken India a larger than life effort to even dream of a victory in this quarter-final, let alone actually capture the win.

But at the Tokyo Olympics we have learnt that fairytales are not restricted to pages of books but can be scripted out on the field, as well, and the 9th ranked Indian Women's Hockey team did just that. Every player of the Rani Rampal-led side rose to the occasion and a timely goal by the seasoned drag-flicker Gurjit Kaur at the 22nd minute became a historic move before all eyes and attention shifted to Savita Punia, the woman 'manning' the goalpost for the Indian side.

A flustered Australian team did all they could do - their backs pushed against the wall. Continuously trying to break the defense of the Indian players - the Australian team went for as many as 9 attempts at striking a goal and not once, were they successful, phew!

Savita Punia stood there - gargantuan in her impact and role in towing the women's team to their very first semi-final at the Olympics - and saved every one of the 9 attempts that included 8 penalty corners.

Immediately attracting the attention of netizens who began calling her 'The Wall' like Rahul Dravid was called in cricket, Savita Punia's consistency in the quarter-finals was awe-inspiring and was a sheer display of her experience on the field. Not making any mistakes, Punia was high on alert and never for once did she relent, saving all of the 9 attacks the Aussies made, ensuring it was enough for India to get to the other side of the line with just Gurjit's lone goal, in a high-octane clash!


Walling the men's side - PR Sreejesh


PR Sreejesh (Source: Facebook/PR Sreejesh)


Before Savita Punia got hailed as The Wall, it was PR Sreejesh's valiant efforts in the quarter-final clash against Great Britain that fetched him the same title. Together, Savita Punia and PR Sreejesh have come to play that key role in carrying forward their respective sides to the semi-finals at the Tokyo Olympics, an unthinkable feat in itself.

Things were incredibly tense in the match against Great Britain and Manpreet Singh, the captain of the Indian men's team put a lot of his faith on the hockey stalwart, PR Sreejesh and of course, the 35-year-old experienced player, delivered. Fetching narrow saves, Sreejesh put up a strong front against the British team and maintained his cool during the attacks from the English team - proving once more why he is the most seasoned of them all, as India won the thriller 3-1.

After the momentous win and semi-final ticket, Sreejesh humbly mentioned, "That (saving goals) is my duty. I'm just doing my duty and being a senior-most player I know that every save gives these players more energy," he told PTI.

In sports like hockey, where matches are goal-dependent, a lot of pressure anyway rests a lot on the goalie and the region near him is often in a state of chaos and subject to invasion from the opponent's side and one has to be on guard at all times. Both Sreejesh and Savita Punia, have shown their grit and practically invincible defense as they stood firmly - not letting goals accumulate on the table, even in the high pressure situations, showing the true mark of greatness stemming from their ample experience.

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