India hockey medal hopes dashed after Belgium loss

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  • Sebastien Dockier scores the first of his two goals during Belgium's 3-1 victory over India.

    When Belgium and India met in a quarter final clash at Rio on Sunday, both sought the chance to script history at the Olympics. For one, it was about reaching the semi-finals after a hiatus of 96 years, while for the other, the gap was strikingly less – 36 years.

    As it turned out, Belgium prevailed and destiny dealt an unforgiving blow to the eight-time gold medalists who now have to wait for another four years for the golden dream.

    Despite earning an early goal advantage in the match, courtesy of a Danish Mujtaba strike deflecting off Akashdeep Singh in the 15th minute, it was not long before familiar demons of inconsistency returned to haunt India. As Belgium gained momentum, the match steadily drifted away from the Indians.

    Goalkeeper PR Sreejesh stepped up to deliver a solid performance, denying Sebastien Dockier a few seconds prior to Singh’s goal in the first quarter. The Indian captain was constantly tested by Dockier and Thomas Briels, but he pulled off a string of important saves.

    That was until Dockier slalomed through the Indian defence to equalize on 34 minutes.

    At this time, Belgium began to find their rhythm and put Sreejesh’s skills to test on a regular basis. The goalkeeper tried with all his might to keep the Belgians at bay, but when a Cedric Charlier cross breached the Indian defence and met Dockier’s stick, it was advantage Belgium.

    OLYMPICS TRACKER-01

    With the Indians building up pressure, Roelant Oltmans’ side settled on an ultra-defensive approach. Considering the mediocrity of the Indian strikers throughout the tournament, relying on counter-attacking was never going to be the best option.

    India did manage to create a number of chances but couldn’t string together that killer pass to force a breakthrough. In the 22nd minute, Sunil’s cross from the left flank missed Nikkin Thimmaiah by inches when a goal looked certain. Some minutes later, he delivered a cleverly weighed cross to Singh who squandered the opportunity.

    Three minutes into the final quarter, Belgium earned their third penalty corner. Once again, it was Sreejesh who proved why he is considered India’s star man throughout their Olympics campaign.

    Back came Belgium and Tom Boon slotted their third goal to ensure victory. As the hooter announced the end of the match, and consequently, India’s run in the Rio 2016 Olympics, one was left to doubt whether Indian hockey was slowly building its way up the rungs in the international arena. Granted there have been occasional instances of brilliance, but does ranking outside the top four in the Games merit the optimism?

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