Tauranga (New Zealand): India lost 1-2 to Belgium in the final of the first leg of the Four Nations Invitational hockey tournament at the Blake Park here Sunday.
Tom Boon’s fourth minute strike gave Belgium the lead but Mandeep Singh pulled India level in the 19th minute. Sebastien Dockier came up with the winning goal in the 36th minute for the Rio Olympic silver medallists.
It was an intense game, with both teams having several chances to score. Belgium mounted pressure on India with a goal through Boon in the fourth minute taking a 1-0 lead.
With three seconds to go for the first hooter, India won a penalty corner but Rupinder Pal Singh’s fierce hit to the right bottom of the post was saved by a Belgian defender at the baseline.
India overcame a slow start in the second quarter as they gained momentum, creating potential circle penetrations. It was in the 19th minute when defender Rupinder Pal intercepted a Belgian long pass to find Manpreet in the midfield, who then sliced the ball into the centre of the circle. Mandeep was quick to react, beating goalkeeper Vincent Vanasch to fetch India the equaliser.
The next few minutes saw India work hard to keep the ball but a structured Belgian defence was tough to break. Meanwhile Indian goalkeeper PR Sreejesh made an excellent save.
Six minutes into the third quarter, Belgium regained the lead. Gauthier Boccard used a powerful reverse hit from the top of the striking circle but was well-saved by Sreejesh. Dockier was quick to pick up the rebound, find the gap and smash the ball past the India goalkeeper.
The European team upped the ante after taking the lead. They forced three back-to-back penalty corners but India held on, with Manpreet Singh unrelenting as the first runner to ensure no goal was scored.
Trailing by a goal, India intensified their attack, but Vanasch made some important saves to keep India at bay.
The last five minutes saw India’s chief coach Sjoerd Marijne pull out Sreejesh to add an extra man to their attack. The effort worked with India winning a penalty corner in the dying minutes of the match but Harmanpreet’s attempt was well defended and eventually ended India’s campaign.
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