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It was looking like another embarrassing loss before the Indian men’s hockey showed some fightback but eventually suffered a 2-4 defeat against Belgium in their third FIH Pro League match at Rourkela’s Birsa Munda Stadium.
Aditya Lalage and Harmanpreet Singh scored for India while Belgium saw a brace from Alexander Hendrickx and goals from Hugo Labouchere and Arthur de Sloover.
India were looking for a better response after going down 0-8 against Argentina in their previous match. They started the first quarter well and thought they had taken the lead via Lalage but it was not counted as Nilakanta Sharma committed a 5m foul.
Belgium took the lead in the 11th minute from the first penalty corner chance of the match. Labouchere unleashed a fierce dragflick to beat Suraj Karkera who should’ve done better with his effort.
Three minutes later, the visiting team earned another penalty corner and this time it was Hendrickx who converted his dragflick. A minute after doubling the lead, de Sloover made it 3-0 with a superb finish from another penalty corner chance.
Belgium didn’t stop there as a minute after the second quarter started, they earned another penalty corner and Hendrickx scored his second of the night. Such was the efficiency of the Belgian team that they converted all four penalty corner chances to put India under pressure.
To their credit, the home team didn’t crumble further like they did against Argentina. They improved on the ball with Abhishek playing a crucial role in their opening goal. His shot was saved but Lalage ensured he converted the chance from a scramble near the goalmouth in the 24th minute.
India also improved their defending, reducing the mistakes at the back while getting their tackles and blocks right. A quick counter-attack resulted in their first penalty corner chance and captain Harmanpreet executed hard and low to score India’s second goal. It was much needed for the India captain who was struggling to make an impact up until that point.
Despite pushing hard, Belgium didn’t allow India to score more. They also had a few chances, but goalkeeper Pawan made a few good saves.
India will be seen again on Sunday against Argentina while Belgium ended their Rourkela campaign on top of the table, winning seven of the eight matches they played so far.
You relive the match on our blog below:
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