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The Indian women's hockey junior team finished its FIH Hockey Women's Junior World Cup 2023 campaign after a narrow 2-3 defeat against Belgium in their final Pool C match on Saturday, December 2.
Noah Schreurs dented India with an early goal in the fifth minute as Belgium were lethal in their attack in the first quarter. They created ample chances, including back-to-back penalty corners, but failed to convert most of them.
Belgium doubled the lead at the end of the third quarter with De Mot France converting a penalty corner. India, though, were up for the fight, against a side that kept a clean sheet throughout the tournament.
Annu's valiant efforts in the final quarter helped the team level the scores 2-2. The Indian forward scored two goals in the space of four minutes, through a penalty corner and a penalty stroke.
However, the brace went in vain after Astrid Bonami hit the winner through a penalty stroke with just eight minutes left in the game. A terrific low save from Belgium goalkeeper Bussels Maite in the dying moments crushed India's slender hopes of a comeback.
The other hope for India to advance to the knockout stage was the possibility of third-placed Germany losing to Canada later in the day. But that was averted with the last edition's runners-up thrashing the North American team 8-0 to confirm their berth in the quarterfinals.
India miss a place in FIH Junior World Cup 2023 knockouts despite a brilliant start
The Preeti-led side commenced their Junior Hockey World Cup on a high note, trouncing Canada 12-0 in the first game. They squandered a two-goal advantage against Germany to eventually lose 3-4.
A similar script unfolded against Belgium, though India seemed lackluster in their attack in the first half. The only positive India should take from the game is that they fared better against Belgium compared to the latter team's other opponents in this tournament.
Firstly, they didn't concede as many goals as Germany (6) and Canada (8) against the ruthless Belgian attack. They also then managed to score goals of their own, while the other two teams were blanked in that aspect.
