India narrowly defeated a fierce Belgium 4-3 to go to the semi-final of the FIH Junior Men’s Hockey World Cup on Friday. Goalkeeper Prince Deep Singh used his inner “PR Sreejesh” to pull off a number of incredible saves in an exciting shootout.
By the end of regulation time, the teams were deadlocked 2-2. Sharda Nand Tiwari scored three goals in the shootout, and Prince Deep’s incredible saves helped India advance to the final four.
A historic triumph was made possible by Prince Deep’s final save, in which he denied the opposing player twice, the second time with a fully extended dive.
In the semifinal, India will play Germany, the reigning champions. Interestingly, India last won the Junior Global Trophy in 2016 in Lucknow.
During regulation time, Belgium scored two field goals through Gaspard Cornez-Massant (13th) and Nathan Rogge (59th), while India converted two penalty corners through captain Rohit (45th) and Tiwari (48th).
Hugo Labouchere, Guerlain Hawaux, and Charles Langendries scored goals for Belgium in the shootout. After being fouled, Tiwari scored three goals from the spot, and Ankit Pal also scored.
Prince Deep, who stole the show with his outstanding saves, gave the Chennai crowd’s strong support and the coach credit for the victory. “I want to express my gratitude to the audience for their support. At the post-match presentation ceremony, Prince Deep grinned and remarked, “Everything I have learned is from our coach PR Sreejesh.”
Belgium had the first opportunity to score in the first minute, but Prince Deep was alert and palmed away Marin Van Heel’s ambitious shot as India got off to a poor start.
In the sixth minute, India created their first opportunity after gradually regaining their feet. Alexis van Havere, the goalkeeper for Belgium, stopped Manmeet Singh’s high effort after he was scooped from the left flank.
In the tenth minute, India scored their first penalty corner, but Van Havere stopped Tiwari’s shot. Both teams played end-to-end hockey during the game.
But in the thirteenth minute, Cornez-Massant’s strong reverse shot gave Belgium the lead, and India’s nerves appeared to overcome them.
The Indians were under pressure after falling behind by a goal and had trouble converting penalty corners. In the 25th minute, they wasted another short corner.
India struggled to maintain control of the match and trailed by a goal at halftime. Even after the change of ends, Belgium was able to dictate terms because of their mistakes, which demonstrated the pressure.
The hosts made multiple attempts to launch attacks and break through the opposing circle, but they were at a loss for ideas. Their third penalty corner in the 39th minute gave them another chance to tie the score, but captain Rohit, the team’s standout drag-flicker, struggled the entire tournament.
Rohit equalized with a powerful drag-flick 17 seconds before the end of the third quarter. Rohit, the initial rusher, and his defense, which included goalie Prince Deep, held firm to hold the enemy at bay despite Belgium’s quick response and four consecutive penalty corners.
India put up a fantastic defense despite Belgium’s persistent pressure, which resulted in another penalty corner at the beginning of the fourth quarter. India appeared to be energized by the equalizing goal and launched a more determined onslaught on the Belgian defense.
Tiwari scored with a strong low flick to the right of the Belgian goalie in the 48th minute, marking their fifth penalty corner.
Rogge’s soft goal for Belgium sent the game into a shootout, where India eventually prevailed, just as it appeared that India would win by a slim margin.
