India vs Belgium men's hockey semifinal: Preview, prediction, when and where to watch (IST)
The Indian men's hockey team will face Belgium in the first semifinal at the Tokyo Olympics 2021 on Tuesday.
An intriguing contest is on the cards between Graham Reid's young team and the veteran silver medallists of Rio. While the former looked ominous in their quarterfinal clash against Great Britain, the latter came from a goal behind to get the better of European rivals Spain.
Check Out: Tokyo Olympics 2021 Schedule
Both teams won their respective quarterfinal matches by an identical 3-1 margin. While the Indians scored by virtue of three field goals, the Belgians fired in three short corners with Alexander Hendrickx scoring a brace.
Hendrickx is now the leading goal scorer in the Tokyo Olympics with a staggering tally of 11 goals thus far - five goals clear of Australia's Blake Govers, who occupies second spot in the scorers' list.
Eleven goals, including a PC hat-trick against South Africa, is a phenomenal record to have before the semifinals for Hendrickx. It is a remarkable improvement from the 2018 World Cup, where he ended up with seven goals in total.
From India, Amit Rohidas has done extremely well with his rush-outs in Tokyo. But the penalty corner defense for India will be tested like never before in the competition if the Indians do concede short corners against the world champions.
India's own PC battery will be hoping that they do earn a few short corners against Belgium. The Indian strikers may not be allowed the kind of maneuverable space that allowed them to thrive in the match against Great Britain.
Check Out: Tokyo Olympics Hockey Schedule
A battle of youth and experience will be on at the Oi Hockey Stadium on Tuesday with several Belgian players like Cedric Charlier, Thomas Briels, Felix Denayer, and Tom Boon having capped over 300 internationals.
John-John Dohmen is now a four-time Olympian and will be playing his 409th international match in the semifinals in Tokyo. India's most experienced player, meanwhile, is Manpreet Singh with 269 international caps to his name.
Shane McLeod's team are known to change gears and grow as tournaments progress. They are at home on the big stage having been part of an Olympic and a World Cup final in the last five years.
The Indians, on their part, displayed great composure in their quarterfinal against Great Britain. But they were lucky that Danny Kerry's team failed to capitalize after Manpreet Singh was shown a yellow card.
The Red Lions, who won the 2020 FIH Pro League, are in roaring form but will be up against a determined Indian unit keen to enter the history books.
So, fasten your seat belts and get set for some riveting hockey action.
The match will be streamed live on Sony LIV and across the Sony Sports Network. Doordarshan will also broadcast the match in India on Tuesday, August 3, at 0700 IST.
FIH Rankings:
Belgium - 2
India - 3
Prediction:
Expect both teams to tighten up their defense considerably and play a wait-and-watch game in the first quarter before attempting to exploit the gaps as the contest progresses.
A goal or two will open up the game considerably, although too many opportunities are unlikely to come by. The team that best utilizes the attacking circle entries will win the day with penalty corners expected to play a huge role.
Score Prediction:
India 2 - Belgium 1
Also read: India vs. Belgium men's hockey statistical analysis: preview, head-to-head & prediction