A gritty Belgium defeated former
Champions the Netherlands in sudden death in a thrilling summit clash to win
their maiden men’s Hockey World Cup title at the Kalinga Stadium. Olympic
silver medalist Belgium created history by eking out a 3-2 win in the penalty
shoot-out after the final match of the game’s showpiece event ended in a
goalless draw.
It was a great day for Belgium
hockey as the country registered its second biggest international title after
the Olympics silver in Rio in 2016. In the last edition of the World Cup at The
Hague in Netherlands, Belgium had finished fifth. The Netherlands, on the other
hand, failed to match Pakistan’s record of a fourth world title for the second
consecutive edition. The Dutch had finished runners-up to Australia four years
ago in front of their home crowd. They last won a World Cup title way back in
1998 in Utrecht.
Incidentally, it was the
Netherlands’ second consecutive match that went to shoot-out in the tournament
after their victory over Australia in the semi-finals on Saturday. In
shoot-out, Belgium goalkeeper Vincent Vanasch outmatched his Dutch counterpart
Pirmin Blaak by making four saves to hand his side their maiden World Cup
title.
Earlier
in the day, Australia thrashed England 8-1 to claim the bronze medal. The title
clash, which was witnessed by none other than cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar
and Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, turned out to be a fierce contest
between the two European sides. While the Netherlands took the early initiative
and attacked continuously in the first two quarters, Belgium made a strong
comeback after the change of ends.
