Hockey
Whom will the Indian team face in Semi-final of Tokyo Olympics?
Having beaten Great Britain, India will now take on Belgium in the semi-final to be held on 3rd August
India has reached their first semi-final after 49 years. It is a historic moment but what will be better is if they manage to reach the finals as well. Belgium have been really consistent with their international performances over the past 5-7 years. Their team is mixture of youth and experienced individual such as John Domen, Arthur Van Doren and Thomas Briels.
2016 Rio Olympics
Incidentally it was Belgium who beat India at the quarter finals of the 2016 Rio Olympics by a score of 3-1. Several of the current squad were also a part of the team back then and will be looking to avenge that loss. Belgium went on to reach the finals after beating Netherlands by a similar score line of 3-1. They however lost out to Argentina in the finals by a score of 4-2.
2018 World Champions
In the 2018 World Cup, Belgium and India were in the same group. The group stage match ended at 2-2 with India conceding a goal in the last 4 minutes. India topped its group but lost to Netherlands in the quarter finals. Belgium went straight to the finals with victories over Argentina and England. They beat Netherlands on a penalty shoot out by a score of 3-2.
2021 Olympics
So far Belgium have been quite dominant in the tournament. They ended the group stages by topping it with a huge points difference. They beat Netherlands by a score of 3-1 in their opening game. This was followed by another victory over Germany with a same score line. South Africa and Canada were completely annihilated with scores of 9-4 and 9-1 showing how ruthless Belgium were. Their quarter final match against Spain seemed to be a change as Spain were winning 1-0 until the 3rd quarter. Belgium managed to turn it around to 3-1 but this will also help India as the game exposed Belgium in a huge way.