'For me, down 0-2 and then coming out and winning 4-2 in the last quarter is the best thing to have happened in the Junior World Cup.'
A delighted Indian team chief coach PR Sreejesh lavished praise on his team's lion-hearted comeback to claim the bronze medal at the FIH Junior Men's World Cup, in Chennai, on Wednesday.
India were trailing 0-2 to Argentina till the final quarter before staging a remarkable comeback to win the third-fourth place match 4-2 and finish on the podium after nine years.
India last won the title way back int 2016 in Lucknow and had finished fourth in 2021 in Bhubaneswar and 2023 in Kuala Lumpur in the competition.
"For the juniors, this is a great journey. One thing which I told these guys is if you can survive this pressure, this is the base because you are going to face this in the future in Olympics or other big tournaments," the two-time Olympic medallist-turned-coach said.
"For me, down 0-2 and then coming out and winning 4-2 in the last quarter is the best thing to have happened in the Junior World Cup. There is huge pressure in this Junior World Cup but they faced it and won that challenge.
"Get that energy, you can't be down 0-2, it's hockey (and) you need to put your energy on the field. Once you come over on to the field there is no point of regret, whatever you want to do you have to do there. That's the only thing I said," Sreejesh said when asked about his message to his players.
Sreejesh felt the Indian players never gave up and trusted on abilities to emerge as winners.
"It's a process, you need to trust your teammates, you need to trust your quality, your strength. The team needs to believe in itself, they created opportunities. We were down 0-2 -- (and) that's almost down and out -- but they trusted themselves, created opportunities and converted them."
Sreejesh, known for his never-say-die attitude in his playing days, didn't hesitate to give a mouthful to his wards in the course of their journey.
"Sometimes you need to remind the people where they belong," he said.
The Keralite, however, lamented the defeat in the semifinal.
"I (have) just started, it has just (been) 12 months for me. Let me learn something first. One victory doesn't mean anything. I missed to win the semifinal and that is the big regret for me," Sreejesh said.
"If you want to win the Olympic medal (or a) World Cup medal, you will have to win the semifinal. I just shared those lessons what I learnt during the Olympic Games. In both the Olympics we lost in the semis. I just shared how to come out of those heartbreaking moments."
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