Sreejesh has been an inspiration for Indian players, says goalkeeper Sahil

The 20-year-old spoke about his role-model in the Indian hockey team.

India's junior goalkeeper Sahil Nayak, who has been part of a few national camps, expressed that the star player PR Sreejesh has been a huge inspiration for all young players in the country.

He said that the aspiring hockey players have been very fortunate to see the way Sreejesh has grown as a goalkeeper in the last ten years.

"The countries which have great role-models are the ones that consistently produce good players for many years. We have been very fortunate to see the way Sreejesh has grown and evolved as a player in the last ten years. He has shown all of us how to keep reinventing ourselves and keep performing consistently for the Indian team. He has been a huge inspiration, not just for goalkeepers, but for all aspiring hockey players in India," stated the goalkeeper from Odisha.

Sahil Nayak is yet to make his debut for the Indian junior team and is looking forward to an opportunity next year. He remarked, "I have worked on a lot of aspects of my game in the last two years and I feel ready for an opportunity with the Indian junior team."

"One can practice as much as possible, but the real test of skills takes place only in matches. We have a couple of very important competitions next year - AHF Men's Junior Asia Cup 2021 and FIH Men's Hockey Junior World Cup 2021. Hopefully, I can book a place in the Indian junior team for both the competitions next year."

When asked about his favourite moment in his domestic career so far, the goalkeeper said that winning the 9th Hockey India Junior Men National Championship 2019 (A Division) with the Odisha team will always be a high point in his career.

"Contributing to Odisha's victory at the 9th Hockey India Junior Men National Championship 2019 (A Division) will always be up there for me. The final against Uttar Pradesh Hockey was a tense one. After being 1-1 in regulation time, we held our nerve to win the penalty shootout 4-3. Hopefully, I can help the Indian team win in the same manner in big tournaments soon," Sahil concluded.