Indian Olympians
Neeraj Chopra and PR Sreejesh will be at Kaun Banega Crorepati (KBC) “Shaandar Shukravaar” episode on Friday. Chopra and Sreejesh were two of the biggest
athletes to shine for the Indian contingent at the recently-concluded Tokyo
Olympics. Neeraj Chopra won gold in javelin-throw and PR Sreejesh, the goalkeeper
for India’s men’s hockey team, played a crucial role in the Indian men’s team’s
bronze-winning performance.

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With two of India’s
biggest sports stars on the hotseat, Friday’s KBC ‘Shaandaar Shukravaar’
promises to be a blockbuster episode. The promos released for the episode show Neeraj
Chopra and PR Sreejesh have a lot of fun with show host Amitabh Bachchan.
However, in one of the more emotional moments of the show, PR Sreejesh tells
Amitabh Bachchan about the Indian men’s hockey team’s Olympic journey from 2012
to Tokyo Olympics in 2021.

Also Read | KBC 13: Neeraj Chopra, PR Sreejesh on the hotseat for ‘Shaandaar Shukravaar’

Talking about the
Indian men’s hockey team’s rueful performance in 2012, PR Sreejesh said, “In
2012, we did not win any match. When we returned, people were laughing at us…the
way we were insulted, teammates started feeling why did we start playing hockey
at all…so when we went in 2021, we told players to think that there was no next
match to play”.

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So, what happened
in Indian men’s hockey team’s 2012 Olympic stint?

The Indian hockey
team qualified for the 2012 Summer Olympics after winning the qualifying
tournament against France with a score of 8–1. Despite the splendid performance
in the qualifying game, India did not win a single game in the London Olympics
and went on to lose seven consecutive matches. The stint seriously dented the
Indian hockey team’s confidence.

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At KBC’s ‘Shaandaar
Shukravaar’ episode, PR Sreejesh recounted how the players felt down and out
and how team members motivated themselves over the years. The Indian men’s
field hockey team won a bronze medal at the Tokyo Olympics. Once considered the
stalwarts of hockey in the world, this was India’s first medal in hockey after
four decades.