Earlier during regulation time, the Indian men’s hockey team held their nerves only to break a 1-3 deficit to beat Belgium 3-3 in the final quarter and fight back in a thrilling shootout. .
Both teams lived up to the billing built on their hooter-to-hooter rivalry in a packed stadium.
Goals from Harmanpreet Singh (52′) and Jarmanpreet Singh (57′) brought India back into the game in the fourth quarter after Shamsher Singh (18′) opened the scoreboard in the second quarter, while Cedric Charlier (21′), current Simon Gougnard (36′) and Nicolas de Kerpel (51′) scored for the Olympic champions.
It was a high-voltage start to the match with both the teams breaking out of the blocks with aggression and pace in their attack. It was India who entered the striking circle with a successful penetration that saw them win their first PC of the match in the 5th minute itself. But Jugraj Singh’s effort was defended by a strong Belgian defense. Three minutes later, veteran forward Akashdeep Singh made a skilful start in the striking circle, but his
The field target was away from the effort target.
A defensive error by young Jugraj Singh, trying to stop the Belgian attacker from taking a possible shot on goal, saw India concede a PC with only four minutes remaining for the first hooter. However, a brilliant effort from Sreejesh, who took a low dive to prevent Tom Boon from converting, did a splendid job to keep the score at 0-0. The first quarter belonged to the experienced Indian goalkeeper who made another scintillating save in an effort by Alexander Hendrix on a PC.
In the end, Shamsher Singh broke the deadlock when he scored in the 18th minute with a rebound from Abhishek. Only three minutes later, Belgium displayed scintillating teamwork and one-touch hockey skills as they sliced through the Indian circle and beat Sreejesh with a fine field goal to level the score at 1-1.
Belgium rallied on home support as they built up the momentum in the third quarter to score a goal in the 36th minute, while India were unable to score with any of their attacking formation. Although he made excellent circle penetrations, he could not beat the Belgian goalkeeper who was bang on target.
But India launched a resilient attack moving towards the goals in the final quarter. Intentional breach by a Belgian defender when Manpreet Singh was forcing himself into the circle gave India a chance as he was awarded a penalty stroke. Harmanpreet converted the goal to 2-3 in the 52nd minute. After 7 minutes, a PC given to India started begging when Harmanpreet’s powerful flick was brilliantly saved by the Belgian keeper. India continued to create great chances but ultimately it was a brilliant PC battery, where Jugraj did a drag-flick, passed the ball to Jarmanpreet Singh, who scored from the effort and ended 60 minutes at a 3-3 stalemate.
“It was a great collective effort on our part, and we kept fighting. They are world champions and Olympic champions. We didn’t take a second easy in the match and that’s how we stayed in the game. It was all about energy. Yesterday Also, we can’t make a single mistake against a team like Belgium, who have a lot of support here in Antwerp,” Sreejesh expressed after the win.
–IANS
cs
No comments:
Post a Comment