PARIS: India custodian PR Sreejesh got a standing ovation even from the British fans on Sunday. The 37-yearold was emotional, trying to soak in the moment as chants of "Sreejesh, Sreejesh" from the stands made it a morning to remember for all those who were at the Yves-du-Manoir . "I grew up hearing chants of 'Sachin, Sachin' and when you hear your name being chanted in such a big stadium, it feels special.
That's the beauty of hockey. Irrespective of where you are from, if you are playing well, everyone will support you. Sometimes, I wondered if they were calling Britain, Britain or my name.
Then I realized it was my name only. But I stood grounded and won," Sreejesh said. Asked whether he felt confident going into the shoot-out, the seasoned campaigner said his extra workload helped him do well in the tie-breaker.
"Throughout the game there was more pressure on me. I was making many saves and automatically you get tired. But the British 'keeper didn't face many such problems, so he was relatively fresh.
I think those saves stood me in good stead and increased my confidence." Sreejesh said unlike many previous occasions, the Indian players scored without any trouble. "When I saw our players score, I grew more confident.
Normally, I find them under pressure in such situations but today they scored easily. So when we scored twice, my confidence level shot up," he said. "In a shootout, the idea is to kill the eight seconds.
Then the pressure goes to the rival player and often h.