Bhubaneswar: Reigning champions India defeated European giants Belgium by a solitary goal to advance to the quarterfinals and keep their championship dreams alive in the FIH Junior Men’s Hockey World Cup at the Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar on Wednesday. India will face Germany in the semi-final.
The Indian senior hockey team fell 5-2 to Belgium in the Tokyo Olympics 2020 semi-final, and this triumph will be sweeter because the juniors have avenged the seniors. Moreover, the Indian team had upset Belgium in the previous edition’s final to win the title, and the hosts have repeated the feat this time to advance to the semi-final.
This was a massive result and India Colts showed a brilliant defensive performance to keep Belgium attackers silent. Tiwari’s sole penalty corner conversion in the 21th minute was enough the difference maker between the two outfits.
In the first few minutes, the Belgians were proactive and put pressure on the Indian defence. The Indian backline, on the other hand, delivered excellent man-to-man marking and remained composed under pressure to deny Belgium.
Belgium got the first attempt on goal in the 13th minute, but Indian goalkeeper Prasanth Chauhan was up to the challenge, denying Thibeau Stockbroekx from close range.
As the game went, six minutes into the second quarter, India earned their first penalty corner, which was converted by Tiwari. Vice-captain Sanjay Kumar’s dummy set Tiwari up well, and the drag flicker made no mistakes in placing the ball into the net.
In the third quarter, neither team had any clear-cut chances, although the Indians were guilty of holding on to the ball too long, resulting in less open opportunities.
The Belgians went all out in the fourth and final quarters, controlling the game, but the Indian defence was able to stop them.
Pawan, India’s second goalkeeper, produced a spectacular diving save to his right in the 50th minute to keep Roman Duvekot’s effort out of the net.
Despite being down, Belgium pressed hard and earned a penalty corner in the 52nd minute, which the Indian defence saved.
However, Belgium pulled their goalie for an extra player three minutes before the final whistle, and they also got a penalty corner two minutes later, but Pawan made another fantastic save to deny de Winter.
India will face the bronze medalist from the previous tournament in the semifinals on Friday.Germany, the bronze medalist from the previous tournament. Germany, the six-time champion, had upset Spain 3-1 through penalties after the scores were level at 2-2 at the end of regulation time.
