Paris, Aug 1: India's unbeaten run in Paris Olympics 2024 ended on Thursday with a 1-2 loss against Tokyo Games champions and world's No 1 ranked team Belgium.
India took the lead in first quarter. But Belgium netted two in the third quarter to take the match in their favour. After beating India, Belgium topped Group B.
India too have qualified for the quarterfinals with two wins, a draw and a defeat.
Earlier, Indian men defeated New Zealand 3-2, drew with Argentina 1-1 and beat Ireland 2-0. However, their loss to Belgium put them at the second spot in Group B.
On Thursday, after Abhishek opened the scoring for India, Belgium scored through Thibeau Stockbroekx and John-John Dohmen.
Belgium though began shakily, but finally managed to edge past India with a 2-1 win. Belgium bounced back with a double strike in the third quarter. Although, India tried to break the deadlock in the dying minutes of the keenly contested game, but failed.
So far, Harmanpreet Singh and Co have played with positive intent, but the over-reliance on their skipper in front of goals is a sign of worry. Captain Harmanpreet has netted four goals in three matches, two from penalty strokes and two from penalty corners.
In the last six encounters between the two sides including Thursday's match, Belgium emerged victorious on four occasions, while India won just one and one ended in a draw.
In the last Olympics in Tokyo, Belgium won Gold, while Australia clinched Silver. India ended their 41 years hockey medal drought with a Bronze medal in Tokyo Games.
