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Having qualified for the quarterfinals of the men's hockey tournament at the Paris 2024 Olympics, the Indians take on Belgium in their fourth pool game on Thursday (August 1).
The Indians, who are in second place in their pool behind the defending champions, will be hoping to finish as high up in the points table as they can, with the quarterfinal contest in mind.
Ending the preliminaries at the top of Pool B will, however, not be easy for the Indians who have mighty Australia to deal with a day after squaring off with Belgium.
After a relatively lackluster performance in the FIH Hockey Pro League, where they won 7 of their 16 matches, the Belgians began their Paris Olympic campaign with a 2-0 win over Ireland.
Following a narrow 2-1 victory against New Zealand, the Red Lions stormed back to form in their match against Australia which was a repeat of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics men's hockey final.
Playing against a formidable opponent, the Belgians displayed their class with Alexander Hendrickx and Tom Boon striking the drag-flicks with aplomb while Florent van Aubel and Antoine Kina scored spectacular field goals.
If Belgium's performance against the Kookaburras is anything to go by, the Indians will need to brace themselves for what could be their toughest encounter of the pool stages thus far.
Craig Fulton's chargers lost to Belgium by a 1-4 margin in their first match of the Hockey Pro League in Antwerp earlier this year before holding the home side to a 2-2 draw.
The Indians, who lost to Belgium in the quarterfinals of the Rio Olympics and the semifinals of Tokyo 2020, have a chance to seek redemption to top the pool.
India vs Belgium match details
Match Details: India vs Belgium, Pool Match, Paris Olympics 2024
Date & Time: Thursday, August 1, 2024, 1:30 PM IST
Venue: Paris, France
India vs Belgium: Head-to-head (Last 5)
Matches Played: 5
India - 1
Belgium - 3
Draws: 1
India vs Belgium: Full Squads
India
Goalkeeper: Sreejesh Parattu Raveendran
Defenders: Jarmanpreet Singh, Amit Roidas, Harmanpreet Singh, Sumit, Sanjay
Midfielders: Rajkumar Pal, Shamsher Singh, Manpreet Singh, Hardik Singh, Vivek Sagar Prasad
Forwards: Abhishek, Sukhjeet Singh, Lalit Kumar Upadhyay, Mandeep Singh, Gurjant Singh
Belgium
Goalkeeper: Vincent Vanasch
Defenders: Arthur van Doren, Gauthier Boccard, Alexander Hendrickx, Arthur de Sloover, Loick Luypaert
Midfielders: John-John Dohmen, Felix Denayer, Antione Kina, Victor Wegnez, Arno Van Dessel
Forwards: Thibeau Stockbroekx, Florent van Aubel, Nicolas De Kerpel, Tom Boon, Nelson Onana
India vs Belgium: Prediction
With both sides having qualified for the quarterfinals, expect an open and free-flowing game that could witness a flurry of chances created at both ends. Penalty corners will play a big role and it's vital from an Indian point of view that they do not concede many.
Score Prediction: India 2 - Belgium 2
Where to watch Paris Olympics 2024 hockey matches in India?
Hockey matches at the Paris Olympics 2024 will be telecast in India on Sports 18 channels and streamed live on Jio Cinema.
