India will face one of their toughest tests in defence when they square off against the marauding Belgians in what promises to be a robust semifinal clash of the FIH Hockey World league Semifinals here on Thursday.
The encounter will test the ability of India’s defence to guard against the Belgian strikers, who have tasted enormous success in the past couple of years to boost their world ranking to No. 4 — the highest in their hockey history.
Ranked No. 9 in the world, India faces a formidable side that has enjoyed a slight edge in their recent encounters since the 2011 Champions Challenge final in Johannesburg.
The Belgian players have, in fact, made giant strides in international hockey. Starting with the victory in the Champions Challenge that earned Belgium their maiden entry in the elite Champions Trophy, the Red lions have emerged victorious in their fixtures against India in the 2012 Olympic Games and the 2014 World Cup.
India have managed to overcome the Belgian challenge in successive Champions Trophy encounters in Melbourne and Bhubaneswar.
“Playing Belgium suits our game. Belgium play a structured game and we’re ready for this contest,” said India coach Paul van Ass, bracing to take on the higher-ranked Belgium.
Van Ass said his team usually found Asian teams to be tougher rivals. It was evident on Wednesday when India were made to work hard for victory.
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Eves beat italy 5-4 in shoot-out
India kept their Olympic qualification dreams alive by beating lower-ranked Italy in the shoot-out in a classification match of the women’s Hockey World league Semifinals.
The Indian hockey eves, ranked 13 in the world, prevailed 5-4 over world rank 16 Italy in the shoot-out of the first play-off match for the fifth to eighth positions, after both the teams were locked at 1-1 at the end of regulation time of 60 minutes.
India failed to capitalise on numerous opportunities during the regulation time. The ensuing shoot-out also failed to break the deadlock as both the teams scored four times each from their five shots and the contest went to sudden-death. In the shoot-out, striker Vandana Katariya muffed her attempt while Navjot Kaur, Anuradha Thokchom, Rani Rampal and Deepika scored. For Italy, Valentina Braconi, Marcela Casale, Guiliana Ruggieri and Chiara Tiddi shot on target but Dalila Mirabella was denied by the Indian custodian.