India Finish 8th in FIH World Cup After Belgium Shootout Loss

The Indian men’s hockey team finished their participation in the FIH World Cup at the eighth spot after losing to Belgium 4-3 in the shootout stage despite ending the game at a tie score of 3-3 at Wavre on Friday. India started well thanks to a goal from Abhishek, while two goals by their skipper Harmanpreet Singh helped the team end up drawing and thus forcing the match into a shootout stage.

India Started Strong, But Belgium Changed the Course of the Game

Abhishek started off for India in the first six minutes of the match, providing a perfect start for his team.

Belgium, playing in front of their home crowd, came back strongly soon. First goal came from Roman Duvekot followed by Hugo Labouchere after one minute of scoring, putting the hosts into the lead.

India kept attacking and managed to find an equalizer in the 31st minute through Harmanpreet Singh.

Harmanpreet Singh Keeps India in Play

In the last quarter, there was yet another twist in the tale. Belgium scored through Nicolas de Kerpel to give themselves the lead in the final quarter of the match, which made life difficult for India with just moments left on the clock.

But India did not give up and were still fighting till the very last minute. In the dying minutes of the match, Harmanpreet made his contribution in helping India level the score to 3-3.

India managed to get the match into the shootout phase with a late goal.

Belgium Show Staying Power in Shootout

India were able to score in three out of the four shootout attempts via Shilanand Lakra, Dilpreet Singh and Abhishek.

But Belgium showed more staying power than India during the shootout and won the shootout 4-3.

India thus ended up being placed eighth in the tournament while Belgium took the seventh position.

India’s World Cup Campaign Ends

For India, their campaign in the World Cup ended in a disappointing way even though there were some good individual performances by certain players.

Harmanpreet Singh was the player who contributed the most in the playoff game and helped India with two goals in regular play. It was especially his second goal that came right at the death of the game.

Belgium, however, got the better of India in the shootout phase of the match.