According to the International Hockey Federation (FIH), India’s men’s and women’s hockey goalkeepers PR Sreejesh and Savita Punia have been selected as the FIH Goalkeepers of the Year 2021/22 in their respective categories.
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Savita was brilliant in the Indian goal, often surprising her opponents with her ability to rescue her from impossible situations during the 2022 Tokyo Olympics and the Birmingham Commonwealth Games.
“Therefore, it should come as no surprise that he received almost twice as many votes as his peers around the world, as someone else was nominated in the Best Goalkeeper category at the FIH Hockey Stars Awards,” the FIH said in a statement.
Savita is not only India’s last line of defence, she is also instrumental in leading the team after taking over the captaincy from Rani Rampal, who missed a major part of the previous year due to injury.
Savita played the lead role India In his first campaign, he made 57 saves in 14 games played, to finish the podium in the Pro League 2021/22.
Her form only improved in the Women’s World Cup, as she made some incredible saves as India held eventual gold medalists England to a draw in the pool stages. According to the FIH, he also made a remarkable game in the cross-over match against Spain, making seven saves.
With India heading towards the Commonwealth Games after a disappointing World Cup campaign, Savita once again inspired her team as India ended a 16-year podium drought in Birmingham. She had a stellar game in the bronze-medal match against New Zealand, which included several match-winning saves in the shoot-out, ending the medal drought for the Indian women’s team.
Savita is now only the third athlete to win the ‘Goalkeeper of the Year (Female)’ for consecutive years since the introduction of the award in 2014, topping the list with 37.6 points. Argentine legend Belén Susi scored the second-highest score with 26.4, followed by Hockeyrose legend Jocelyn Bartum, who finished with 16 points.
PR Sreejesh, the 34-year-old men’s team goalkeeper, who is in his full 16th year as an international for the country, once again showed his value to the team, playing all 16 matches in the Pro League as India finished third . He also played all six games at the 2022 Birmingham Commonwealth Games where India won silver.
During the season, Sreejesh also completed 250 appearances for India, becoming the eighth Indian to achieve the figure and the only goalkeeper to do so.
Sreejesh has become the third goalkeeper to win the FIH Goalkeeper of the Year award in a row. A similar feat was achieved in the past by David Hurt (Ire), who won the award in 2015 and 2016, and Vincent Vanash (Belgium) who won it three times in a row from 2017 to 2019.
Sreejesh ended the poll with a total of 39.9 points, followed by Belgium’s Loik van Dooren with 26.3 points and Primin Blak of the Netherlands third with 23.2 points.
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