Champions Trophy Hockey Tournament 2018: India held to draw by Belgium
India's hunt for a place in Sunday's final suffered a set back when it played a 1-1 draw with Olympic finalists Belgium in the 37th and farewell edition of Champions Trophy Hockey Tournament at Breda in the Netherlands on Thursday.
After four games, Belgium remain win less as they have three drawn games and a loss. Earlier, Pakistan also caused a flutter by defeating Olympic champions Argentina 4-1 for its first win in four matches.
The run for the final is now become triangular with defending champions Australia, the hosts the Netherlands and India still in the run.
India has a game against the hosts in hand.
For India, the day belonged to skipper Sreejesh who played an excellent game in the goal. His only lapse in concentration in the 58th minute saw Belgium scoring the equaliser from a penalty corner. Otherwise he brought some excellent saves, both of penalty corners and fiery moves of the Red Shirts.
India took the lead in the 10th minute when Harmanpreet Singh scored with a neat flick from a penalty corner. India clung on to this lead till the 58th minute. In between, Indians had their share of good scoring chances. Both SV Sunil and young Dilpreet were unlucky to see their attempts at Belgian goal being saved.
Belgium also had a mixed bag of fortunes. One of its attempts in the fourth quarter saw the ball hitting the goalpost and bouncing back into play.
In the last quarter, India went defensive trying to hold 1-0 lead. The move put additional pressure on the team as it started cracking under pressure and conceded a series of penalty corners with Belgians dominating the proceedings holding the ball in the Indian half for most of the time.
With two wins,a draw and a defeat, India now awaits the outcome of the match between defending champions SAustralia and the hosts Netherlands at the end of round four of the league.
