Indian men's hockey team conceded a one-goal lead to go down 1-2 to Belgium in their opening match of the three-nation invitational tournament in Dusseldorf, Germany on Friday.
A splendid penalty corner conversion by Harmanpreet Singh in the third quarter gave India a 1-0 lead. But India conceded two goals in the final quarter to lose the match.
For Belgium, Cedric Charlier (52nd minute) and Tom Boon (55th minute) netted the ball.
Riding high on an impressive 5-2 win against Germany in their first match on Thursday, Belgium got off the blocks against India with vigour.
However, the Indian defence led by Rupinder Pal Singh, Harmanpreet Singh and Surender Kumar, who played his 50th international match, prevented them from taking an early lead.
After ending the first quarter in a stalemate, India were quick to earn their first penalty corner in the 19th minute. But dragflicker Harmanpreet's attempt was blocked by the Belgian defender's stick.
Soon after, India forward Ramandeep Singh did well to win the team their second PC. He was tactical with his dribble to find the foot of Belgian defender inside the striking circle.
However, Belgium goalkeeper Jeremy Gucassoff denied India an early celebration as he came up with an impressive save to keep dragflicker Harmanpreet from converting the goal.
Three minutes into the third quarter, India won its fourth PC but Harmanpreet was unlucky yet again as his fiercely-struck flick was blocked away by the Belgian defenders.
Though he was quick to get the rebound and attempted a reverse hit on goal, he was slightly off target with the ball hitting the crossbar.
The lost attempts did little to dent his spirit and Harman scored in India's fifth PC attempt, earning the much-needed 1-0 lead in the 38th minute.
There was plenty of action in the fourth quarter with Belgium coming back into the game by earning their first PC of the match. Though India's defence denied them a goal, Charlier succeeded in winning an equaliser for his team in the 52nd minute with a field goal.
Though Belgium won back-to-back PCs soon after, Surender Kumar was impressive in his defence to deny them the opportunity. But India ended up conceding their second goal when Boon converted a PC in the 55th minute.
(With inputs from PTI.)
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