New Delhi. Indian hockey star PR Sreejesh on Tuesday praised Vinesh Phogat’s spirit here, saying that despite whatever was happening to her, “before the bronze medal match against Spain, she came to me and said, ‘Bhai, good luck, you are a wall, play well.’ Describing Vinesh as a ‘fighter’, he said that she deserves at least a medal, but at the same time this incident should be a lesson for everyone because rules are necessary to run the game.
Sreejesh, who retired after the Indian hockey team won the bronze medal in the Paris Olympics, said while talking to senior editors at the PTI office here, “Vinesh deserves the silver medal because by reaching the final, she had ensured a medal. She would have got the silver or gold medal. Saying at the last moment that you are unfit to play in the final… ” He said, “If I were in her place, I don’t know what I would have done. She is a ‘fighter’. I met her before the bronze medal match.
He said, ‘Bhai, good luck, you are a wall’, play well. I felt that she was hiding her pain by smiling, she is really a ‘fighter’. After what she has suffered in the last one year, she qualified for the Olympics by training and then reached the finals by winning.’ But he put forth the other side, ‘But there is also an aspect of this that you are in the Olympic Games, you should be fully prepared. You cannot point fingers at anyone. When you are preparing, stick to the rules and regulations because these are necessary to make the game beautiful and to run it.’
Vinesh was found to be 100 grams over the prescribed weight limit before the final. The wrestler appealed against this decision in the sports tribunal last Wednesday and its result will come on Tuesday. Along with this, Sreejesh also cited the rule regarding the red card given to experienced fullback Amit Rohidas in the quarterfinal match against Britain. He said, “According to the rule, you should not raise your stick. But what did Amit Rohidas do, he raised the stick. Even if it was unintentional, he got a red card and we had to suffer the consequences.
