India captain Sreejesh’s heart goes out to Kerala flood victims

INDIAN hockey team skipper P.R. Sreejesh’s mind is focused on winning the gold medal but his heart is with the people of Kerala affected by the flood.

Sreejesh’s home state Kerala is ravaged by the worst flood in a century with nearly 400 people dead, while more than one million people have been displaced.

The 32-year-old goalkeeper, who is one of the sporting icons in India, said he was glad that his immediate family were not severely affected by the flood.

He said his family were helping out the flood victims and he would join them in the relief works after the Games.

“Thank God that everything is okay with my family in my hometown but some of my relatives in the other parts had to move to relief camps. It all looks fine now,” said Sreejesh.

“My family have been providing food and clothes to the camps and also providing rice and other basic amenities to people who came for help at our home.

“Everything is slowly getting better now, the clean-up works have started too. Once I go back, I’ll find out how best I can help with the relief work.”

The Olympian added that despite the disaster at his home state, the team are focused on the task at hand, which is to defend their gold medal won at the 2014 Incheon Games and book an early ticket for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

The team on Wednesday recorded their biggest-ever win in international hockey after annihilating Hong Kong 26-0 in their Group B match.

India will take on Japan at the Gelora Bung Karno Hockey Stadium today.

“Besides Japan, India will face South Korea and Sri Lanka. Yes, we are a better team, but we can’t afford to take it easy.

“Our immediate goal is to qualify for the semi- finals. We’re taking it one match at a time, rather than thinking about the future.

“For the past few years we have worked hard, the expectation is on us based on the performance of the team. It’s time for us to perform up to the mark,” said Sreejesh, who holds 176 caps.