Indian men's national hockey team goalkeeper PR Sreejesh termed the side's bronze medal win at the Tokyo Olympics as a "rebirth" for the sport in the country.
India ended a 41-year wait for an Olympic medal after defeating Germany 5-4 in the men's bronze medal match at the Oi Hockey Stadium -- North Pitch on Thursday.
After being 1-3 down at one point, India displayed tremendous resilience to turn things around and seal victory against a strong German side. For India, the experienced Sreejesh came to the team's rescue in the final seconds of the game as he saved Germany's 13th penalty corner of the match.
"It's a rebirth. That's it. It's been 41 years. In 1980 we won the last medal and after that, nothing. Today when we won it, this gives a boost and gives energy to the youngsters to pick up hockey, play this game," Olympics.com quoted Sreejesh after the win.
"This is a beautiful game. Now we are giving a reason for them to pick up hockey, play the game and make the country more proud than this," the three-time Olympian added.
For India, Simranjeet Singh (17th and 34th minutes) scored a brace while Hardik Singh (27th), Harmanpreet Singh (29th) and Rupinder Pal Singh (31st) were the other names in the scoresheet.
Timor Oruz (2nd), Niklas Wellen (24th), Benedikt Furk (25th) and Lukas Windfeder (48th) scored for Germany.