At the 49th FIH Statutory Congress in Oman on Friday, retiring goalie PR Sreejesh received the Goalkeeper of the Year award, while Harmanpreet Singh, the captain of the Indian men’s hockey team, was named Player of the Year 2024.
The winners were announced after a vote by the media, fans, national associations (represented by the coaches and captains of their respective national teams), and an expert panel. With more votes than any other candidate among the men’s nominees, Harmanpreet Singh was the most notable figure. Similar to Yibbi Jansen in the women’s division, Indian captain Harmanpreet scored 10 goals at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, including goals in the quarterfinals, semifinals, and both goals in India’s 2-1 victory over Spain for the bronze medal, which guaranteed them a second consecutive podium finish.At the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, Harmanpreet was also a vital component of the Indian squad that ended their 41-year podium drought. Prior to this, he was the FIH Player of the Year twice, in 2020–21 and 2021–22. However, considering that he earned it while leading his nation for the first time after becoming captaincy in 2023 and winning an Olympic medal with his squad on his first try, the third one might be the most valuable!
Harmanpreet talked on the festivities back home after leading his team to a second straight Olympic medal: “I want to start by thanking FIH for this wonderful honor. It was amazing to return home after the Olympics and see such large people waiting to welcome and embrace us. It was an extremely unique sensation. I want to thank my teammates because without you, none of this would have been possible. We also want to express our gratitude to Hockey India for consistently providing us with every chance to excel at every level.
I’m so honored to be getting this award in front of my wife and daughter, who are here today. So, I want to thank everyone who helped make it happen.
Sreejesh, on the other hand, ended his incredible career in the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris by adding a second Olympic medal to his trophy cabinet. He also gets to add a third FIH Goalkeeper of the Year title, which he had previously won in 2020–21 and 2021–22. Sreejesh bid hockey’s top level farewell by organizing an amazing Olympic campaign that featured an astounding performance in India’s quarterfinal victory over Great Britain, in which they played with just ten players for the majority of the tournament! Across all voter categories, Sreejesh won the most votes, much like his countryman Harmanpreet Singh.
Srejeesh expressed gratitude to everyone who has supported him during his amazing career, saying: “Today makes me very happy. I appreciate you giving me this final honor in my playing career. My final tournament appearance for my nation was in Paris 2024, as most people are aware, and I would like to express my gratitude to Hockey India for all of their help and advice throughout the years that I have participated in the sport. The defense, which prevented the majority of attacks from reaching me, and the forwards and midfielders, who outscored my errors by scoring more goals than I gave up, deserve this honor above all others.The FIH Player of the Year 2024 title went to Yibbi Jansen of the Netherlands, and the Goalkeeper of the Year 2024 honor went to Ye Jiao of China. Sufyan Khan of Pakistan and Zoe Diaz of Argentina were the recipients of the FIH Rising Stars awards.
Alyson Annan (Australia) has won the FIH Coach of the Year award for the women’s division for the second consecutive year, while Jeroen Delmee (Netherlands) has won the FIH Coach of the Year title for the men’s division.
In the women’s and men’s divisions, respectively, Steve Rogers of Australia and Sarah Wilson of Scotland were named the FIH Umpire of the Year.
