Hockey: India’s Savita Punia, PR Sreejesh win FIH Goalkeeper of the Year awards

The International Hockey Federation can reveal that Savita Punia and PR Sreejesh have been voted the FIH Goalkeeper of the Year 2021-22, in the women’s and men’s categories respectively.

It has been a year of many highs for the Indian women’s hockey team, and the contributions of their goalkeeping stalwart, Savita, has laid the foundations for their success. Savita was magnificent in defence of the Indian goal, often astounding her opponents with her ability to pull off saves from impossible situations. It therefore comes as no surprise that she received nearly twice as many votes from her peers around the world, as anyone else nominated in the best goalkeeper category at the FIH Hockey Stars Awards.

Savita’s win comes from her goalkeeping heroics, but her impact on her team looms even larger, as not only is she the backbone of the Indian defence, but also plays a crucial role in leading the side, having taken over captaincy from the talismanic Rani Rampal, who missed large parts of the previous year due to injury.

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Savita was instrumental in leading India to a podium finish in the FIH Hockey Pro League 2021-22, in their debut campaign, pulling off an astounding 57 saves in the 14 games she played! Her form only improved at the FIH Hockey Women’s World Cup, as she pulled off some incredible saves as India held the eventual gold medallists England to a draw in the Pool stages. She also had a remarkable game in the cross-over match against Spain, making 7 saves that had the viewers rubbing their eyes in disbelief.

As India headed to the Commonwealth Games, on the back of, what they believed to be, a disappointing campaign in the World Cup, Savita once again inspired her team, as India ended a 16-year podium drought at the games. Savita had a stellar game in the bronze medal match against New Zealand, which included multiple match-winning saves in the shoot-out, that brought about the end of the medal drought for the Indian women’s team and sparked wild celebrations!

Savita is now only the third athlete to win the Goalkeeper of the Year (women) for consecutive years since the inception of the award in 2014, finishing on top with 37.6 points. Argentina legend Belén Succi received second most points with 26.4, followed by Hockeyroos stalwart Jocelyn Bartam who finished with 16 points.

The longevity of PR Sreejesh’s career continues to defy logic as the 34-year-old Indian shot-stopper continues to raise his game as the years roll on. In his 16th year as a full international for India, Sreejesh once again showed his value to the Indian team, playing in all 16 games in the FIH Hockey Pro League as India finished in the third position, and all 6 games at Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games where India won the silver medal.

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During the course of the season, Sreejesh also completed 250 appearances for India, becoming the 8th Indian to achieve the figure, and the only goalkeeper to do so. As a senior member of the team Sreejesh performs a dual role where on one hand he is the vocal leader, commanding his forces from the back of the defence, while off the field he is also the player that organizes the best gatherings and celebrations, as his teammates told us.

Sreejesh now becomes the third goalkeeper to win back-to-back FIH Goalkeeper of the Year awards. A similar feat was achieved in the past by David Harte (Ireland) who won the award in 2015 and 2016, and Vincent Vanasch (Belgium) who won it three consecutive times from 2017 to 2019. Sreejesh finished the voting with 39.9 total points, followed by Belgium’s Loic van Doren who finished second with 26.3 points and Netherlands’ Primin Blaak in third place scoring 23.2 points.