Quotes from P. R. Sreejesh

Your goal is to win a medal at the Olympics. The players who go into their second Olympics like me, know the agony of missing out on a medal.

Of course I catch up on the odd Malayalam and Tamil movie on streaming platforms once a while.

To build my core strength, I do push-ups, sit-ups, crunches, on-the-spot running with bands, and individual runs.

There is a lot of scope for improvement but as we enter the home stretch for the Olympic preparations, we know the biggest challenge for us is to remain consistent with our performances.

Even when following a strict training regimen, you're allowed a couple of cheat meals.

I am a goalkeeper. My first duty is to save the goal. The second is to communicate with my defenders and organize them.

You can't expect a coach to come in and just change everything overnight.

Even one player's performance can affect the entire team.

My aim has always been to improve with every performance and be an added strength to the side.

Pakistan are definitely our main rivals. We do respect the players but on the field, we push ourselves even harder to get that win. I am sure they do the same against us. Victory against them has a special meaning.

I started watching my own videos, rectifying mistakes and talking to our coaches. But there is a limit to self-learning but the past 8-9 years have helped me become self-reliant.

I never dreamt of captaining the team and leading the side in the Olympics. It's a great honor.

You cannot play at your best and beat a top team one day and drop your level the next day.

One of my friends called me up and said kids in our village are playing hockey with PVC pipes. This is the change I wanted to see. Hopefully, we will be able to inspire the next generation.

Normally, a goalkeeper has to be a perfect man. All my mistakes are visible so I have to keep my concentration all the time.

India-Pakistan match brings a lot of excitement to the table.

I was under Adrian D'Souza, then under Bharat Chettri. The things that I learnt under them are helping me in my career now.