Boom (Belgium): India swept aside Belgium's challenge winning their second consecutive match 4-1 in the Champions Challenge Hockey Tournament here on Tuesday.
If the rains finally went away, it was replaced by chilly winds that had the temperatures dipping to almost 14 degrees Celsius. Even the Belgians who thronged the stadium to cheer their team wore thick jackets and made a bee-line for the coffee stalls at the break.
Hopes had been raised by the Belgian side after their 3-2 victory over Argentina. But in the first five minutes off the match, India packed its midfield, cut off the crosses and swamped the Belgian striking circle with penetrative moves. Most of the Indian moves came off the right flank.
India drew first blood in the 13th minute when Sandeep Singh got his first goal off the tournament. It was a move from the left that gave India its first penalty corner and Sandeep Singh fired in perfectly for India to lead 1-0.
The attacks continued unabated. Two minutes later, Gurbaj, the pick of the Indian team, relayed a cross from the right which deflected off Minz' stick to Prabhjot who made no mistake striking it past the goalkeeper for a 2-0 lead.
Gregory Gucasoff has been touted as the new penalty corner star of Belgium and most countries in Europe have been watching him with huge interest. He didn't disappoint the Belgian fans as he flicked in powerfully to equalize the scores at 1-1. Sandeep Singh tried stopping the penalty corner but the ball went past and an unsighted Adrian D'Souza couldn't take it on the gloves.
With three minutes to go for the break, Gurbaj was again in the thick of action. Prabhjot deflected his cross that hit the post and came back into play for Shivender to dive and tap in past the Belgian goalkeeper.
India led 3-1 at the break.
India held on the lead for most of the second half as the Belgians did their best to break the Indian moves. Sunil Yadav got a yellow card in the 61st minute but despite that India earned their second penalty corner of the match and was happily smiling when Dilip Tirkey smashed in a direct hit.
Indian coach Carvalho was happy that they got some dry weather and the team was able to put up a good display. "I wish we could have score more goals," he said. "But I am happy because it might come to a stage where goal difference could be taken into consideration."
India now gets a day's rest before taking on Argentina on Thursday.
With the win over Belgium, India has six points and would be looking to wrap up their league engagements with two more wins and a place in the final.
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