PR Sreejesh unveils the efforts gone into winning the medal after 41 years and the difficulties of playing on Astro Turf in KBC’s Shaandaar Shukravaar episode

MUMBAI: Sony Entertainment Television’s popular show Kaun Banega Crorepati is all set to welcome Olympians Neeraj Chopra and PR Sreejesh in this week’s Friday Special episode of Shaandaar Shukravaar. Both the athletes will be seen sharing their stories of dedication, hard work and struggle on the Hot Seat with Mr. Amitabh Bachchan. 

While conversing with Mr. Bachchan, PR Sreejesh talks about getting a medal in Hockey after 41 years.
Shreejesh shared, “We have been waiting for 41 years for this medal. Personally, I've been playing hockey since 21 years. I started playing hockey in 2000 and since then, I've grown up listening to how our elders, grandparents had made it big in Hockey, we had 8 gold medals in Hockey. So, we started playing because of the history behind the game. After that what happened was that Hockey was played on Astro Turf, the game was changed and our downfall began.”

Asking more about Astro Turf, Amitabh Bachchan tried to understand the level of difficulty while one plays on the Astro Turf. Explaining this, Sreejesh said, “Yes, a lot, Sir. Because Astro Turf is an artificial grass where we put water and we play. Playing on the natural grass, the effort and game style is totally different as opposed to playing on Astro Turf. Earlier, all the players only played on the grass ground, trained on it and even played internationally on the grass ground. Nowadays what has happened is that the kids start playing on the grass field and later have to play hockey on the Astro turf which takes a lot of time. There is a different type of training that one undergoes to play on the Astro Turf… the hockey stick used is also different.” 

Both the athletes will be playing for the causes they support. The winning amount will be donated to the Kerala Government Initiative - Vidyakiranam by PR Sreejesh and Inspire Institute of Sports of Bellary, Karnataka by Neeraj Chopra.

Be sure to tune in for the Shaandaar Shukravaar episode of KBC 13 on Friday, 17th September at 9:00 pm only on Sony Entertainment Television