FIH Awards 2024: Harmanpreet Singh wins Player of the Year; PR Sreejesh gets Best Goalkeeper

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The International Hockey Federation (FIH), in its 49th FIH Statutory Congress held in Oman, announced Indian hockey stars Harmanpreet Singh and PR Sreejesh as Player of the Year and Best Goalkeeper of the Year respectively. Besides them, the Federation, along with Harmanpreet Singh, also honoured Yibbi Jansen from the Netherlands as FIH Women’s Player of the Year.

All the winners were announced after a vote by an expert panel, National Associations (represented by the coaches and captains of their respective national teams), along with supporters and the media. The most votes from all voter categories went to Harmanpreet Singh, who stood out among the men's nominees.

Hat-trick of wins for Harmanpreet Singh at FIH Awards

With 10 goals to his name, Harmanpreet Singh was the tournament's leading scorer and had an amazing 2024 Paris Olympic Games. Moreover, with another feather to his cap, the Indian skipper has completed a hat-trick of wins of the FIH Men's Player of the Year award after winning it in 2020–21 and 2021–22 earlier.

Commenting on his win, Harmanpreet Singh said that winning the title is an honour and thanked Hockey India for the support. "First off, I would like to thank FIH for this great honour. After the Olympics it was so great to go back home and have such huge crowds there to greet us and welcome us. It was a very, very special feeling. I would like to mention to my teammates, none of this would have been possible without you all. Special thanks to Hockey India as well for always giving us every opportunity to succeed at all levels. My wife and daughter are here today and receiving this award in front of them means the world to me. So, thank you to everyone who made that possible!” he said.

PR Sreejesh, a veteran of the game who retired after last featuring at the 2024 Paris Olympics also opened up on his win. The former India goalkeeper said that the award belongs to the team, including defence, midfielders, and forwards.