India's tour of Europe | India suffer second consecutive defeat at the hands of Belgium

08/11/2017

The Indian men's hockey team squandered a 1-goal lead to lose their second consecutive match against hosts Belgium by 1-3 in Boom on Thursday. Armaan Qureshi put India ahead early in the match but the resilient Belgians came from behind and scored thrice just before halftime to win the series 2-0.

The young Indian hockey stars failed to overcome their Belgian counterparts in their second encounter in India's tour of Europe even after taking an early lead.

India started the proceedings aggressively attacking the Belgian goal with all their might and their efforts paid off through young Armaan Qureshi, who scored a brilliant field goal in the fourth minute to put India in the lead. However, the one goal lead that was against the hosts did not seem to perturb them and they took the game to the Indian defence and nullified the lead in the 9th minute through Amaury Keusters.

The Belgians continued to dominate possession in the second quarter, which resulted in the hosts scoring their second goal of the match. This time it was Loick Luypaert who put them ahead through a superb drag flick. Although the Belgians had a one-goal cushion, they continued attacking the Indian goal and testing the defence. The pressure soon led to a third Belgium goal when Victor Wengez scored a field goal in the 29th minute to double their lead and put them in a commanding position in the match.

With India trailing by 2 goals it was expected that the men in blue will come out all guns blazing in the third quarter but the Indian men struggled to find an opening through the iron-clad Belgium defense and eventually lost the series 2-0.

India is on a five-match tour in Europe and will play their third game against Netherlands on August 13.