PR Sreejesh, Savita Punia voted goalkeepers of year

New Delhi, October 5

India’s PR Sreejesh and Savita Punia were today voted the FIH Men’s and Women’s Goalkeeper of the Year, respectively, for the second year running.

Sreejesh once again showed his value to the team, playing in all the 16 games in the Pro League as India finished in the third position. He also played in all the six games at the 2022 Birmingham CWG, where India won the silver medal.

“The longevity of PR Sreejesh’s career continues to defy logic as the 34-year-old Indian shot-stopper continues to raise his game as the years roll on,” the FIH said in a statement.

Sreejesh got a total of 39.9 points in the voting, followed by Belgium’s Loic van Doren (26.3 points) and the Netherlands’ Pirmin Blaak (23.2 points). The votes were cast online by experts (40%), teams (20%), fans (20%) and media (20%).

Sreejesh is the second player to win the award two consecutive times. A similar feat was achieved by David Harte (Ireland), who won the award in 2015 and 2016. Vincent Vanasch (Belgium) won it three consecutive times from 2017 to 2019.

During the course of the season, Sreejesh also completed 250 international appearances, becoming the eighth Indian and the only goalkeeper to achieve the feat.

“No doubt, this is a special award because the hockey fans are voting for us. This is a big honour for me and a testimony to all the hard work,” said Sreejesh who is currently at the SAI Centre in Bengaluru as part of the national camp for the upcoming season of the Pro League.

“Winning awards, no matter what stage in your career you are at, is always a motivating factor. This award surely motivates me to further improve and do well in the World Cup next year.”

The 32-year-old Punia finished on top of the voting with 37.6 points. Argentina legend Belen Succi was second with 26.4, followed by Australia stalwart Jocelyn Bartram with 16 points.

She is now only the third athlete to win the Goalkeeper of the Year (women) award for two consecutive years since its inception in 2014.

“This surely is a big surprise and a very pleasant one. I am sure many Indian hockey fans voted for us and I thank each one of them,” said Savita, who is currently playing for Haryana in the National Games in Gujarat.