By Forrest Crellin
PARIS (Reuters) – Belgium’s men beat India 2-1 in a tight Olympic Pool B match on Thursday as a penalty corner goal in the third quarter gave them poll position for the quarter-finals while Britain and Argentina also sealed last-eight spots.
Belgium defended bravely to limit a quick India offence that scored first on a cracking shot by forward Abhishek Abhishek from the top of the circle, with two Belgian defenders needing help off the field after being struck by the ball.
Arthur de Sloover stopped a comeback shot with his face inside the circle in the 51st minute and had to be helped off before returning to play with several stitches in his head.
“They got the first chance. The first goal was a really a good goal to be honest,” Belgian captain Felix Denayer said.
“Then it was a good test for us to see if we could stay calm and continue to trust our process. I think we did just that and it was good to see that we came back scoring and that we were able to win the game.”
Their efforts allowed only two India penalty corners, reducing captain Harmanpreet Singh’s ability to change the result with his world class dragflicks.
India, now in third place, face Australia next in a game that determines who finishes second in Pool B after the Kookaburras thrashed New Zealand 5-0 to bounce back from their 6-2 defeat by Belgium.
Belgium would guarantee top spot with a win or draw against Argentina, and need a lopsided loss and strong Australian win to drop to second place.
Britain also punched their ticket to the quarter-finals with a 2-1 win over hosts France in Pool A as defender James Albery tapped home the winner to seal their third comeback in three games.
“We never want to give up early goals, but I think the belief we have in this team is that we can come back from any result at any point,” Albery said.
In the other men’s Pool B game, Argentina topped Ireland 2-1 with goalkeeper Tomas Santiago saving a penalty stroke in the dying seconds of the third quarter to preserve his team’s lead and send them through to the knockout stages.
(Reporting by Forrest Crellin, editing by Ed Osmond)
