Hockey World Cup 2018: Spirited India play out 2-2 draw against Belgium
Bhubaneswar, Dec 2: Hosts India produced a spirited effort to eke out a 2-2 draw against Olympic silver medallists Belgium in an evenly-contested Pool C match of the men's hockey World Cup here on Sunday.
Pegged back by Alexander Hendricks' goal in the eighth minute, India made a valiant comeback after the change of ends, scoring two goals in the third and fourth quarter through Harmanpreet Singh (39th) and Simranjeet Singh (47th) to take the lead.
But the hosts defence faltered in the final minutes and conceded a late goal when Simon Gougnard scored in the 56th minute to draw level.
The draw, however, enabled world no. 5 India to take the top spot in Pool C ahead of Belgium on goal difference. Both teams have a win and a draw from two outings.
India had earlier blanked South Africa 5-0 in their opener, while world no. 3 Belgium pulled off a close 2-1 win over Canada.
India will play Canada in their last pool match on December 8, while Belgium will be up against South Africa on the same day.
Contrary to their last match, the Indians completely looked out of sorts in the opening two quarters against Belgium.
The hosts lacked co-ordination in the midfield and that gave them hardly any scoring opportunities.
The Indians were slow to get off the blocks as the Red Lions dominated the proceedings in the first two quarters, threatening the hosts defence on a number of occasions.
Belgium got their first scoring opportunity in the second minute in the form of back-to-back penalty corners but failed to get past the Indian defence.
Another penalty corner in the eighth minute resulted in Belgium's first goal through Hendricks, who sounded the board with a ground flick in between the legs of Indian custodian P R Sreejesh.
Seconds from the first quarter, India had their first real scoring chance when Mandeep deflected wide a Dilpreet Singh layover from Birendra Lakra's inch-perfect pass from the midfield.
Five minutes into the second quarter, Dilpreet Singh shot wide from top right after being fed by skipper Manpreet Singh.
Two minutes from half time, Tom Boon came tantalisingly close to doubling Belgium's lead when his neat deflection struck the post and went out.
But after the change of ends, the Indians changed gears and looked a completely different side.
The home team looked more organised and their mid-field finally started to create opportunities.
Three minutes into the third quarter, Dilpreet was denied by Belgium goalkeeper Vincent Van Asch from close range after being fed by Simranjeet.
Two minutes later India earned their first penalty corner and it took a gem of save from Vanasch to keep Harmanpreet Singh's powerful high flick out of the target.
Minutes later, Belgium had a chance but an alert Sreejesh denied Cedric Charlier.
India's relentless pressure earned them back-to-back penalty corners in the 39th minute, the second of which resulted in a penalty stroke which was ably converted by Harmanpreet to drew parity for the hosts.
Two minutes into the fourth and final quarter, Simranjeet scored his third goal of the tournament by tapping in from close range after being set up by Kothajit Singh's fine stick work from the left flank to hand India the lead.
Thereafter, the game witnessed end-to-end attacking stuff with both the teams pressing hard in search of the decisive goal.
Belgium withdrew their goal keeper for an extra player with little less than five minutes from the hooter and their move struck gold when Gougnard scored with a slapshot in between Sreejesh's legs late into the game.
The Indians made a few impressive moves in the remaining few minutes but Belgium defended stoutly despite the absence of their goalkeeper to share the spoils.
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Trump pauses Project Freedom, claims great progress for final agreement with Iran
Washington (PTI): President Donald Trump has suspended “Project Freedom,” to escort ships through the Strait of Hormuz, claiming progress in negotiations with Iran toward an agreement to end the war.
In a post on Truth Social on Tuesday, Trump said, “Great progress has been made toward a complete and final agreement with representatives of Iran.”
“Based on the request of Pakistan and other Countries, the tremendous Military Success that we have had during the Campaign against the Country of Iran and, additionally, the fact that Great Progress has been made toward a Complete and Final Agreement with Representatives of Iran, we have mutually agreed that, while the Blockade will remain in full force and effect, Project Freedom (The Movement of Ships through the Strait of Hormuz) will be paused for a short period of time to see whether or not the Agreement can be finalized and signed," Trump said.
Project Freedom was launched on Monday to escort ships, stranded due to the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, out to safety. Trump had announced the operation on Sunday and the US Central Command began implementing it the next day.
However, the Project led to friction in the vicinity of the narrow seaway, a key route for transporting one-fifth of the global oil supplies, with the UAE claiming that its ships were attacked by Iran. The US also claimed to have destroyed several Iranian small boats.
Trump’s statement on Truth Social came hours after US Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced that Operation Epic Fury, launched on February 28, had concluded as its objectives have been achieved.
"Operation Epic Fury is concluded. We achieved the objectives of that operation. We're not cheering for an additional situation to occur. We would prefer the path of peace. What @POTUS would prefer is a deal... that is, so far, not the route that Iran has chosen," Rubio told a press conference at the White House on Tuesday.
On Project Freedom, Rubio said the goal was to rescue almost 23,000 civilians from 87 different countries who were trapped inside the Persian Gulf and left for dead by the Iranian regime.
"This is not an offensive operation. This is a defensive operation, and what that means is very simple: there’s no shooting unless we're shot at first. We’re not attacking them, but if they're attacking us or they’re attacking a ship, you need to respond to that," Rubio said.
