FIH Pro League: Harmanpreet Singh scores twice as India thrash Olympic champions Belgium 5-1
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FIH Pro League: captain Harmanpreet Singh Helped by two goals, the Indian hockey team made a stunning comeback after consecutive defeats in their European leg of the FIH Pro League, beating Olympic champions Belgium 5-1 in London on Friday. Midfielder Vivek Sagar Prasad gave India the lead in the second minute of the match and then Harmanpreet (20th and 30th minutes) scored two goals from the penalty corner. Amit Rohidas (29th minute) and Dilpreet Singh (60th minute) scored the other two goals for India. William Ghislain (46th minute) scored for Belgium in the fourth quarter.
India did a big upset by defeating Belgium
The Indian team reached Europe as the top team in the Pro League points table. But in the opening match of the European stage, they lost 1–2 to Belgium on 26 May and then lost 2–4 to Great Britain the next day. The Indian team entered the field with the intention of exacting revenge and started off brilliantly and scored a field goal in the second minute itself, which set the tone for the match. Gurjant Singh assisted Vivek to score with a shot from the left. After this goal, India dominated the ball and took the aggression. He increased the pressure on the Belgian defensive line which led to a mistake by the experienced Emmanuel Stokebroek and earned India their first penalty corner.
Harmanpreet did amazing
However, the team could not take advantage of this opportunity but achieved success on another penalty corner in the 20th minute when Harmanpreet converted it into the goal. After taking a 2-0 lead, India played a natural game and continued to dominate the ball and tear apart the Belgian defence. Rajkumar Pal passed the ball towards Mandeep Singh in the 29th minute, on which instead of taking a shot, this player passed it to Amit Rohidas who converted it into a goal to put the team ahead 3-0. India got another penalty corner and Harmanpreet easily scored off the rebound to make it 4-0.
Belgian team on backfoot in half time
Seeing India’s strong lead till half-time, the Belgian team came on the backfoot and earned consecutive penalty corners at the beginning of the third quarter, making a dent in the opponent’s defense. But PR Sreejesh failed them by doing excellent goalkeeping. In the fourth quarter, Belgium scored the only goal in the 46th minute from a field goal by William Ghislan. India continued to play aggressive hockey and scored the fifth goal in the 60th minute through Dilpreet Singh to register their first away win of this Pro League season. Now India will face Britain again on Saturday.
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