Rupinder Pal Singh stars in India's victory over Belgium in Four-Nations Hockey Tournament

The Indian men's hockey team produced a spirited performance to even things against world No.3 Belgium as they defeated them 5-4 in the second leg on Thursday after Belgium beat them 1-2 in the final of the first leg. India started the match in a disciplined manner, playing two-touch hockey to rotate the ball swiftly and accurately to pave their way into Belgium's striking circle.

It was Belgium’s turn to force a foul in the Indian circle now and they won a PC in the 37th minute of the match. With a runner missing on the baseline as they broke too early before the flick, Belgium tried a variation that worked with Felix nudging the ball into the post, putting Belgium in the 2-1 lead. Minutes later, Rupinder scored from a penalty corner to equalize 2-2 in the 42nd minute.

India won a PC on the counter-attack in the final quarter and this time, though Rupinder's drag flick was saved by the Belgian goalkeeper Vincent Vanasch, the rebound landed to Harmanpreet Singh who made no mistake in whipping it past Vanasch to level the score 3-3.

India were awarded yet another PC in the following minute that was well-saved, however, Belgium’s defence was punished when Vivek Prasad came up with brilliant stick work to dribble past the defenders and found Lalit unmanned in front of the post. A perfectly timed deflection by Lalit put India in the 4-3 lead in the 53rd minute.

With the clock ticking away, both teams hunted for a winner, and it was Sreejesh, who was forced to a brilliant save yet again to contain Cedric Charlier from scoring. Seconds later, forward Ramandeep Singh found himself making an ambitious circle entry from the top, turning around to beat Belgian defender and hitting the post. With Dilpreet Singh lurking around unmanned, it was another perfectly timed deflection by him that registered the win for India.