By Prabhjot Singh | France |
Defending champions Belgium overcame a spirited challenge from India to record its fourth consecutive win from as many matches in the 2024 Paris Olympic Games on Aug 1.
Overcoming a 0-1 deficit, Belgium ended the game with a 2-1 win to stay at the top of the pool with a maximum of 12 points. India now has seven points from four games with two wins, a draw, and a loss.
India plays Australia in its last pool game on Friday (Aug 2). In the second game, Australia thrashed bottom-placed New Zealand 5-0 to move to the second spot with three wins from four games. Australia had lost 2-6 to Belgium yesterday. New Zealand with four straight losses is already out of reckoning for a quarterfinal berth.
In another game later in the day, Argentina will play Ireland. A win for Argentina could also help it qualify for the quarterfinals.
India continued from where it left off in the last game against Argentina. Playing a well-coordinated game, India had the defending champions’ defence under pressure late in the first quarter and the early second quarter. During this period, Abhishek, who missed a chance earlier, made amends this time.
After intercepting a centre from the right flank, he latched onto the ball and surprised the Belgian goaltender with a rasping drive from the top of the circle. The goal infused a new life into the game. While India pepped up its attack, Belgium tried to retaliate.
Realising that India had resorted to tight zone and man-to-man marking, Belgium worked out a strategy to crowd the Indian goal in attack. Efforts paid immediate dividends. Three minutes into the second half, when Belgium got its well knot attack, Thibeau Stockbroekx, got the ball past Indian goalkeeper Sreejesh to restore the parity.
Once the teams were level 1-1, the game picked up pace. The 2020 Tokyo Olympic champions were more forceful, in their attack on the Indian citadel and forced a series of penalty corners. Veteran goaltender Sreejesh stood between Alexander Hendrickx and Tom Boon.
Once again, the Belgians managed to crowd the Indian goal in the 44th minute. Following the melee it was John-John Dohmen who managed to slid the ball across the goal line.
India had a chance to equalize in the 58th minute. Skipper Harmanpreet could not repeat his first three-game performance. He had a stinging flick at the goal where a defender got it deflected out from his arm, the resultant corner went begging.
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