Now Reading: Indian men’s hockey team finishes 8th after shootout loss to Belgium
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Indian men’s hockey team finishes 8th after shootout loss to Belgium
India finished eighth at the FIH World Cup after losing 3-4 to Belgium in a penalty shootout in Wavre on Friday. Captain Harmanpreet Singh forced the shootout with a last-gasp penalty-corner goal…
India finished eighth at the FIH World Cup after losing 3-4 to Belgium in a penalty shootout in Wavre on Friday. Captain Harmanpreet Singh forced the shootout with a last-gasp penalty-corner goal with 26 seconds left in regulation time, making it 3-3. It was his eighth goal of the tournament.
In the shootout, Shilanand Lakra, Dilpreet Singh and Abhishek scored for India but Belgium prevailed 4-3. Abhishek had opened the scoring for India in the sixth minute, and Harmanpreet also scored in the 31st minute. Belgium's goals in regulation came from Roman Duvekot, Hugo Labouchere and Nicolas de Kerpel.
India had dreamed of winning a World Cup medal after 51 years, but losses to England, the Netherlands and Argentina in earlier rounds ended their medal hopes. Belgium, the co-hosts and world No. 2, were also eliminated from the semifinal race.
Indian Opinion Analysis
This is India's worst World Cup finish since 2018, when they placed sixth, and marks a sharp fall from their Tokyo Olympics bronze medal in 2021. The team's inability to close out tight matches, especially against higher-ranked sides, has been a recurring issue: they led Belgium early but could not hold the advantage. The tournament structure, with a second-round pool of only three teams, left no margin for error after losses to the Netherlands and Argentina. India's next major test will be the Asian Champions Trophy in September, where they will face Pakistan, Japan and Malaysia.
The Indian team, which failed to score a single point in the second round, will now have to regroup ahead of the Asian Champions Trophy in September, where they will face Pakistan, Japan and Malaysia.
Source: theprint.in
This brief was synthesised by AI from the source linked above.
