India's Nail-Biter Victory: Paris Olympics Hockey Opener

Veteran goalkeeper PR Sreejesh acknowledged the 3-2 win against New Zealand as a wake-up call ahead of tougher pool matches in the Paris Olympics. Despite mistakes, coach Craig Fulton was pleased that the team stuck to its plan. Skipper Harmanpreet Singh's penalty stroke conversion proved crucial for the win.

Veteran India goalkeeper PR Sreejesh admitted that the tense 3-2 win against New Zealand in the Paris Olympics opener served as a wake-up call ahead of tougher pool matches. Despite the challenging match, coach Craig Fulton expressed satisfaction that the team adhered to its strategy on Saturday.

Skipper Harmanpreet Singh's penalty stroke conversion in the 59th minute was pivotal, securing a narrow win and full three points for India. 'The first match in the Olympics is never easy,' Sreejesh noted. 'New Zealand is not an easy team. We made some mistakes, but there were a few good things as well. It's a good wake-up call for the team.'

India head coach Fulton mentioned that tough matches are a norm at this level. 'You can see Australia, Argentina was 1-0. It's tight. It's really, really tight. So this was a really important step for us. It wasn't the perfect performance, but we had a plan and stuck to it,' the South African coach added.

While Fulton acknowledged that India could have played a more aggressive game, he emphasized the importance of different strategies for various teams. 'We didn't really do enough with the ball today,' he said. 'But I'm glad we got the win considering we made some mistakes. This is the Olympics, and there's no easy team.'

(With inputs from agencies.)