Indian men’s and women’s hockey teams crumbled towards the host nation Belgium in the 2nd video game of the FIH Professional League in Antwerp on Thursday.
The men’s group led by Harmanpreet Singh lost 1-4 against the hosts whilst the women’s group shed -2 producing it a second consecutive reduction for them.
In the women’s match, the Indian group misplaced -2 from Belgium and looked devoid of thoughts throughout the game.
Defence fees the men’s staff the match
Coming on the again of a great sport versus Argentina, the Indian men’s staff was very poor in their defensive construction and the exact same resulted in Belgium scoring two counterattack plans out of 4 to punish the defensive lapses of the Indian crew.
Goalkeeper PR Sreejesh also experienced a poor recreation by his specifications as his conclusion-creating and positioning were being questionable in the to start with and the 3rd goal.
India did nicely in the initially 50 % as they countered Belgium’s attack but the defence looked shaky with the likes of Jugraj Singh and Jarmanpreet Singh battling to continue to keep up the speed of lightning-fast counters.
The to start with purpose arrived in the 22nd minute for Belgium as Jugrag Singh failed to backtrack Felix Denayer and Sreejesh arrived early to give house and time for Denayer to open up the scoring.
Alexander Hendrickx scored from the penalty corner to make it 2- following the commence of the 2nd 50 percent.
India tried out countering Belgium and attacked their circle but some weak decision-earning in the final 3 observed India throwing away a pair of attacking chances.
Charlier Cedric scored a world-class purpose when he concluded outrageously to make it 3-.
India pulled a single back in as Abhishek dribbled earlier a couple of defenders in the Belgian circle, he uncovered his way earlier to audio the board and make it 1-3.
Having said that, India conceded a penalty stroke in the past instant with Hendrickx producing no miscalculation from the location to make it 4-1.
A tough battle till the end, it just was not our night time. 💔
We consider the battle to the upcoming activity on Saturday in opposition to the very same crew.
At Whole-Time:
Belgium 🇧🇪 4️⃣ : 1️⃣ India 🇮🇳
Goalscorers:
22′ Denayer Felix
34′ Hendrickx Alexander (Pc)
49′ Charlier Cédric
60′ Hendrickx Alexander… pic.twitter.com/vEKKdi2qHC
— Hockey India (@TheHockeyIndia) Could 23, 2024
The women’s team wants to function on the basics
Previously in the day, the Indian women’s crew also lost to the host Belgium as T Serstevens and Dewaet scored the two aims to win the recreation.
The Indian workforce did effectively in the initial 50 % to preserve the Belgian workforce at bay with some great defending and the heroics of Savita Punia who was back in the team right after missing the initial match.
However, the 2nd 50 % was a diverse tale as the Belgians were rampant with their attacks to score two ambitions. Both of those targets came on the back of significant defensive lapses.
New coach Harendra Singh requirements to tackle some essentials this kind of as trapping the ball and executing the excellent routines in penalty corners.
Equally teams will enjoy Belgium on 25th May with the men’s workforce enjoying at 7:45 PM IST and the women’s crew taking part in at 5:30 PM IST.