NEW DELHI: National hockey team goalkeeper and Malayali PR Sreejesh has been awarded the World Games Athlete of the Year award. Sreejesh received the award through public voting in recognition of his achievements in the international arena last year. He is the second Indian athlete to achieve this feat. Rani Rampal, the national women's hockey captain, became the first Indian athlete to achieve this feat.

By the time the voting was halfway done, Sreejesh was far ahead of his other rivals. In yesterday's final, he received more than twice as many votes than the second place Spanish climber Alberto Ness Lopez. Third place went to Italy's wushu player Michel Giordano.

Sreejesh's performance was crucial when the Indian men's hockey team won a bronze medal at the Tokyo Olympics. For the first time since 1980, India has won an Olympic medal in hockey. Sreejesh's save, with six seconds to finish in the match, helped India to win the bronze medal against Germany.