Hosts India blew away a goal lead and conceded two late goals to go down 1-2 against Belgium to finish sixth in the Hero Hockey World League Final on a chilly evening at the Major Dhyan Chand National Stadium, here today.
It was a hard-fought match between the two sides as both India and Belgium matched each other stick by stick and were in no mood to give an inch to the other in the fifth-sixth place classification game.
Vice-captain P R Sreejesh had a busy outing today under the Indian goal but the lanky custodian pulled off numerous saves throughout the entire 70 minutes to keep India in the hunt till the final hooter.
After a barren but competitive first half, India drew the first blood in the 59th minute through a field goal from Nikkin Thimmaiah to send the significant home crowd present at the stadium into raptures.
But India did not have the last laugh as the Red Lions made a spirited fightback, pumping in two goals in a span of two minutes at the dying stages of the match to secure the fifth position in the eight-team event.
The sixth place finish here is certain to give a major boost to India's world rankings. India are presently lying 10th in the world rankings but the performance here is certain to help India jump three places to the seventh position in the International Hockey Federation (FIH) rankings.
However, Belgium, who are currently ranked fifth in the world, are likely to slip to the sixth place when FIH rankings will be released after the conclusion of this tournament.
India were yet again slow to get off the blocks as Belgium dominated the early share of possession.
Belgium made a promising start and raided the Indian goal as early as in the second minute but an agile Sreejesh denied Tom Boon's reverse shot.
