Tokyo Olympics: The Manpreet Singh-led Indian men in blue suffered a loss at the hands of Belgium in the first semi-final of the ongoing Tokyo Olympics at Oi Hockey Stadium North Pitch on Tuesday. Belgium beat India 5-2 in the semi-final and they will now challenge the winner of the second semi-final between Australia and Germany in the gold medal match on Thursday. On the other hand, India will lock horns in the bronze medal match on Thursday with the loser of the game Australia and Germany. The Indian boys started well and looked to keep up the good work, but lost the tempo in the last quarter and that is where the boys from Belgium benefited. 

Though India struck back as Harmanpreet Singh and Mandeep Singh scored goals in quick succession, and as a result, India gained a 2-1 lead in the first quarter. In the second quarter, Belgium got the equalizer as Alexander Hendrickx triumphantly converted a penalty corner, and it produced the scoreline level to 2-2. No more goals were scored in the second quarter, and the scoreline remained level. The deadlock was not broken in the third quarter as well, and as a result, heading into the last 15 minutes of the game, both India and Belgium were highly tensed. In the fourth quarter, it was Belgium who struck first as Hendrickx scored his second goal of the match, giving Belgium a 3-2 lead with more than 11 minutes still left to play.

A moment later, Hendrickx got his hat-trick as he converted from a penalty and hence, Belgium gained a 4-2 lead. In the end, Belgium managed to hang on and the side registered a victory, advancing ahead to the finals, their second successive final appearance. Earlier, India had defeated Great Britain 3-1 in the quarterfinals on Sunday to enter the last four stages. 

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