Gold or silver: hockey men are in the final
Loick Luypaert gave the Belgians an early lead after a penalty corner (2nd), but India turned the tables within three minutes with Harmanpreet Singh (7th, penalty corner) and Mandeep Singh (8th), 1: 2. Fortunately, Alexander Hendrickx made it 2-2 after the break in the 19th minute with a converted penalty corner.
After the break, the third quarter was more dominated by the “men in blue”, who repeatedly conquered the ball and made it into the Belgian semicircle. It was only in the fourth and last section that national coach Shane McLeod’s protégés took the initiative again. The Indians were constricted in their semicircle, and the Belgians earned one penalty corner after the other.
Hendrickx used one of these opportunities in the 49th minute to bring the “Red Lions” back into the lead. The world champion extended his lead to 4: 2 (52nd) with a goal from Hendrickx Goal in the tournament for the Antwerp player.
After this two-goal deficit, the Indians threw everything forward without seriously embarrassing the Belgian defense. The Asians even took their goalkeeper out of the game in order to be able to generate even more pressure with an additional field player. But nothing helped. On the contrary: After a sparkling clean tempo counterattack, John-John Dohmen hit the empty goal a few seconds before the final whistle to make it 5-2.
The second semi-final (12 noon Belgian time) will be played by Australia and Germany today. The finals will be played on Thursday: the game for third place at 3:30 p.m. (Belgian time), the final at 12 p.m. (Belgian time).
The “Red Lions”, who had to admit defeat in the Argentina final in Rio de Janeiro in 2016, will try to win the only missing title in their trophy cabinet, including a world title (2018), a European title (2019) and the pro League (2021) as well as a second (2013 and 2017) and a third (2007 and 2021) place in the Euro.
After Wout Van Aert (silver / cycling), Matthias Casse (bronze / judo) and Nina Derwael (gold / gymnastics), the fourth Belgian medal has been won.
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