India Lose Men’s Hockey Semi To Belgium, To Play For Olympics Bronze On Thursday

Mumbai: India lost 2-5 to world number two Belgium in the men’s hockey semi-final at Tokyo Olympics. 

The Indian men’s hockey team were featured in their first semi-final at the Olympics after 49 years

Belgium defeated India 5-2 in the semi-final and they will now face the winner of the second semi-final between Australia and Germany in the gold medal match on Thursday

On the other hand, India will lock horns in the bronze medal match on Thursday with the loser of the game Australia and Germany. 

Loick Luypaert gave Belgium an early lead in the match as he registered a goal in the opening minutes of the first quarter and as a result, India was directly on the backfoot.

However, India bounced back and Harmanpreet Singh and Mandeep Singh scored one goal after another and as a result, India took a 2-1 lead in the first quarter.

In the second quarter, Belgium’s Alexandre Hendrix level the penalty corner 2-2. No more goals were scored in the second quarter and the score remained level.

In the fourth quarter, it was Belgium who scored first as Hendrik scored his second goal of the match, giving Belgium a 3–2 lead with more than 11 minutes to spare.

A few minutes later, Hendrix converted from a penalty and earned his hat-trick, and, therefore, Belgium took a 4–2 lead.

In the end, Belgium managed to hang on and the side registered a victory, progressing ahead to the finals, their second successive final appearance.

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