Harmanpreet, Sreejesh bag top honours at FIH Star Awards

P R Shreejesh and Harmanpreet Singh with Chief Minister of Odisha Mohan Charan Majhi
| Photo Credit: BISWARANJAN ROUT

Indian men’s hockey team captain Harmanpreet Singh and the legendary PR Sreejesh have won the FIH Player of the Year and Goalkeeper of the Year awards for the year 2024.

Both Harmanpreet and Sreejesh received the recognition during the 49th FIH Statutory Congress in Oman on November 9.

Harmanpreet beat the likes of Netherlands duo of Joep de Mol of Netherlands and Thierry Brinkman, Hannes Muller of Germany and Zach Wallace of England to bag the top award.

Indian captain Harmanpreet Singh led the scoring charts at the Paris Olympics with 10 goals, including goals in the quarterfinal, semi-final and both goals in the bronze medal match against Spain, which India won 2-1 to secure their second consecutive podium finish at the Olympics.

Double Olympic medallist Sreejesh, who quit the game after the Paris Olympics, prevailed over Netherlands’ Pirmin Blaak, Luis Calzado of Spain, Jean-Paul Danneberg of Germany and Argentina’s Tomas Santiago to win the top prize in goalkeepers category.

Harmanpreet was also a crucial cog in the Indian team that had broken their 41-year podium drought at the Tokyo Olympics with a bronze medal. He has previously won the FIH Player of the Year award on two occasions in 2020-21 and 2021-22 but the third one might just be the most precious, as it came after he led his country to an Olympic medal — a bronze in Paris — in his first attempt, following his appointment as captain in 2023.

“First off, I would like to thank FIH for this great honour. After the Olympics it was so great to go back home and have such huge crowds there to greet us and welcome us. It was a very very special feeling. I would like to mention my teammates, none of this would have been possible without you all,” Harmanpreet said.

“Special thanks to Hockey India as well for always giving us every opportunity to succeed at all levels. My wife and daughter are here today and receiving this award in front of them means the world to me. So thank you to everyone who made that possible!” Sreejesh, meanwhile, brought an end to his stellar career at the Paris Olympics, adding a second Olympic medal to his trophy cabinet.

Like Harmanpreet, Sreejesh also won his third FIH Goalkeeper of the Year award, having previously won the award in 2020-21 and 2021-22. Sreejesh brought the curtains down on his career at the highest level, putting together an incredible Olympic campaign that included a monumental performance in India’s quarterfinal win over Great Britain, where they played most of the match with 10 players.

“I am so happy today. Thank you for this last playing honour of my playing career. As most people know, Paris 2024 was the last tournament I played for my country and I just want to thank Hockey India for all the support and guidance offered over all the years I have played the sport,” Sreejesh said.

“This award completely belongs to my team, the defence who made sure most attacks never got to me, and the midfielders and forwards who covered up my mistakes by scoring more goals than I conceded,” he added.

The other winners of FIH awards were Yibbi Jansen of Netherlands (Women’s Player of the Year), Ye Jiao of China (Women’s Goalkeeper of the Year), Pakistan’s Sufyan Khan (Men’s Rising Star of the Year), Zoe Diaz of Argentina (Women’s Rising Star of the Year), Jeroen Delmee of Netherlands (Men’s Coach of the Year), Alyson Annan (Women’s Coach of the Year), Steve Rogers of Australia (Men’s Umpire of the Year), Sarah Wilson of Scotland (Women’s Umpire of the Year).