The Indian men's hockey team showed character as they snatched a 4-3 win against hosts Belgium to end an otherwise forgettable campaign at the FIH Hockey Pro League on a positive note in Antwerp on Sunday.
It was goals by Sukhjeet Singh (21', 35'), Amit Rohidas (36') and Harmanpreet Singh (59') that ensured India's win, and ended their outing in the eighth place, 14 points ahead of Ireland.
For Belgium, Arthur de Sloover (8'), Thibeau Stockbroekx (34') and Hugo Labouchere (41') scored.
It was a memorable outing for Sukhjeet and Dilpreet Singh who completed their 100 international caps.
Belgium were quick to get off the blocks, pressing high and looking to catch Indian defenders off guard. Their tactics paid off early with Arthur de Sloover scoring a stunning goal to go one up in the match. He fired it into the top right corner of the post, leaving no room for the Indian goalie to defend.
The goal certainly dislodged India's momentum, who until then showed glimpses of attacking intent with quick bursts in their variation.
The visitors' first real opportunity came in the 20th minute when they earned the first penalty corner of the match and with skipper Harmanpreet back on the pitch, confidence was high in the Indian set-up.
It was a good injection from Hardik, but the powerful flick was well-blocked leading to a brisk counter attack by the Belgians. But Pathak, at the other end, prevented a potential 2-0 lead with a fine save.
Only a minute later, India converted a sensational penalty corner and this time it was a clever variation which saw Sukhjeet step up and deflect the ball inside the post with precision.
He only had to angle Harmanpreet's flick which comfortably beat the Belgian goalie. This was an important equaliser which saw India build on their attack.
Nearing the end of the second quarter, Abhishek came close to scoring what would have been a stupendous goal but missed the target by inches.
After the 10-minute half-time break, Belgium struck early through Thibeau Stockbroekx who scored in the 34th minute. But India responded almost immediately with Sukhjeet pumping his second goal of the match.
It was an assist from the midfield, to Abhishek just a little outside the top of the D. Though Abhishek missed holding on to the ball, Sukhjeet picked it up efficiently to smash it into the goalpost.
A minute later, Rohidas put India ahead 3-2 when he scored from a PC in the 36th minute..
There was plenty of drama in the game. Belgium earned a PC and made complete use of the opportunity. This time, it was Hugo Labouchere putting his name on the scoresheet with his maiden international goal.
Seconds later, India found the back of the net after a bit of a scramble inside the D to hold on to the ball. It was eventually Shamsher Singh who put the ball inside the net after a couple of attempts..
However, an immediate video referral by Belgium saw the goal being disallowed.Going into the final quarter in this high-octane contest, India started with a PC..
With minutes left for the final hooter, an important video referral by India saw them being awarded a penalty stroke. Though Sloover protested, and eventually was handed a yellow card, there was a clear push from him and Harmanpreet sealed the issue in his team's favour to end a run of seven successive losses in the European leg of the league.
"We made a good comeback today. We had the confidence in us in every game we played. There was a lot of room for improvement in how we played today, narrowed down on the small errors we were making and rectified them today..
"There has been lots of learnings from here and we will bounce back next edition," said Sukhjeet, who was awarded the Player of the Match.
