PR Sreejesh Aspires To Be Indian Hockey Team's Chief Coach By 2036

Indian men's hockey team goalkeeper PR Sreejesh doesn't want to predict his future at the moment and will take a call on his retirement after the Paris Olympics but the veteran custodian aspires to be chief coach of the national side by 2036. Sreejesh, who will be featuring in his fourth Olympics this year, refused to believe that the upcoming edition in Paris could be his last outing in the sporting extravaganza. He remains optimistic but said once he calls it quits, he definitely wants to give back to the game in one or the other way.

"For me, this Olympics is really important because at this age it is really hard for me to talk about next four year cycle. From the last Olympics, I was only taking one year at a time. The rest decision comes after the Olympics," Sreejesh told PTI in an interview.

"I don't think so (it will be his last Olympics) because when you are 36 and doing a beep test of 20.8 , I think it's quite good.

"(But) after my career I will take a break for sure. I will need time to transfer myself from a player to any role, as a coach, assistant coach or goalkeeping coach. My plan is for long time. My plan is for 2036 or 2040.

"I want to improve myself, I want to see myself as a coach or a chief coach of the Indian national hockey team in that time because by that time I will be more experienced. I want to be a part an Indian independent coaching staff of the national hockey team," he elaborated about his plans.

Sreejesh, who captained the national team at the 2016 Rio Olympics, played a key role in India's historic bronze medal-winning feat at the Tokyo Games and he believes the current side has the potential to produce better results in Paris.

"The goal everytime for an athlete is to win a gold medal in