After their stunning win over title favourites Netherlands, India will take on Belgium in the fourth quarter-final match. With eyes set on the semi-finals berth, the reigning Asian Games champions India led by Sardar Singh will play the quarters of Hockey Champions Trophy 2014 at Kalinga Stadium, Bhubaneswar on Thursday. The game is scheduled to commence at 07.30 pm IST and live telecast will be on Ten HD. You can also watch the match live online on Ten Sports’ official website while viewers from other nations can visit FIH’s official Youtube page to stream the match for free.
The morale lifting win over the Netherlands, Sardar Singh and his boys would be keen to take India to semifinals where their arch-rivals Pakistan are waiting for the mouth-watering clash. They earlier defeated Netherlands in the first quarter-final match by 4-2 to send the Dutch packing out of the Champions Trophy tournament. A win over Belgium, will set the Asian Games 2014 finalists clash for the finals berth.
India who came in the tournament on a high, fresh of the victories in Asian Games, Incheon and Test series win over defending champions Australia at the Kangaroos home, could not repeat the success in the opening two matches. They did not have the best of starts in the elite eight-nation tournament as they slumped to 0-1 and 2-4 defeats against Olympic champions Germany and World Cup bronze-medallist Argentina respectively in their first two Pool B matches. After losing to a late goal against the Germans in their tournament opener, India squandered the lead twice to slump to a 2-4 defeat against Argentina.
Their morale definitely took a beating after two defeats and just when they were being counted out, the Sardar Singh-led side produced an inspiring performance to shock the Netherlands 3-2 in their final league match and finish third in Pool B ahead of the mighty Germans. After the splendid show against the Netherlands on Tuesday, India will definitely fancy their chances against the fourth-ranked Belgium. After all, Against all expectations, Sardar Singh and Co came up with a superlative display to register their first win over the Netherlands in 18 years in front of a packed Kalinga Stadium.
Open all references in tabs: [1 - 3]