Men's and Women's Hockey World Cups

[SaniaFan]

Its 1-1 after 3rd quarter. Much better hockey

[ankit1407]

1-1 at the end of Q3.. by far our best Q but still quite a few mess up with last shot/pass

[PKBasu]

India have equalised through a penalty stroke (following two consecutive penalty corners) in the third quarter.

[SaniaFan]

And now leading 2-1!!!

[PKBasu]

Simranjeet's goal puts India in the lead, 2-1 at the 47th minute mark.

[ankit1407]

Finished 2-2 ..’oh well we did not lose at least

[rajitghosh]

India plays Canada after Belgium plays South Africa. So they'll know by how many goals they need to win to top the group.

[ankit1407]

With our GD of +5 vs +1 of Belgium we should top the group from this position .. a tough Q against most likely Germans will await us in that case unless Pak or Mal can pull of something spectacle in group D..I am pretty sure Ned will top group D..

[sameerph]

I will take this 2-2 draw against Belgium going by the way our recent record against them and our first half showing today. We played much better in the second half and if had kept our composure we would have won the match. I don't know why we cannot just try to keep possession when we are ahead instead of trying to hit crosses in the opponent circle. The last goal which Belgium scored should also have been defended better by Birendra Lakra. I thought Varun Kumar, Manpreet played well. Simranjeet seems to be turning out good in scoring. Akashdeep,Mandeep seemed to be back to their self after one good game.

[PKBasu]

Sad that we couldn't hold on for the win, but still good to see a draw against the higher-ranked Belgians. Winning the pool has to be the key now, and a big win against Canada to crown it.

[ssp]

Yes, disappointing to concede yet another late equaliser. However, this result is encouraging because of the way we came back after Belgium dominated and just seemed to have so much freedom in the centre of the pitch in Q1 & Q2.

We need a good win over Canada (depending on how many Belgium put past RSA) and then we are likely to meet Germany in the QF. As I expected, getting into the semis will be very difficult and we'll need to tighten up in midfield and hope our PCs work, because up front, we have the handicap of Mandeep. Akashdeep is probably more of a liability in his new, withdrawn position because he will lose the ball in midfield rather than high up the pitch

Varun, Manpreet and Harmanpreet were very good today. Simranjeet, Sumit and Nilakanta also had a good games.

I just wish we had selected the best talent and then these tight matches would sometimes result in wins rather than draws or defeats.

The Dutch have looked the best team so far, but I'm sure Germany, Australia and Belgium will get better. Argentina are a strange case. often they seem to be on the back foot for most of the game and just 3-4 counter attacks to score or get PCs and Peillat does the rest

[PKBasu]

The good thing is that, so far, we are playing in line with our world ranking (#5), which itself is the highest ranking India have had in the past 3 decades. We have occasionally been ranked at 5, but never higher since at least 1982 (36 years ago) I think. Above us are Australia, Argentina, Belgium, the Netherlands. And immediately below us are Germany, who would normally be expected to play the #3 side in the QF, but may have to play the #5 side if we finish ahead of Belgium in our pool. We have had a special penchant for screwing up in the decisive matches, so the big win needed over #11 Canada cannot be guaranteed -- and nor can the win over Germany in the QF. Let us hope that Harender has dealt effectively with the temperament issue (the late equaliser conceded yesterday is not a good portent). With Indian hockey, even the optimist is a skeptic .

[Atithee]

With Indian hockey, even the optimist is a skeptic .

[PKBasu]

Pakistan lost rather narrowly (0-1) to Germany, while the Netherlands thrashed Malaysia (7-0). The importance of this is that, in the event that we finish second in our pool, we will play the third-placed team from that pool (either Pakistan or Malaysia, as things stand presently; if Malaysia beat Pakistan in their match, then goal difference will be irrelevant).

[srini]

I was just checking other group results and found that in Group B , China have drawn 2-2 with England. Are Chinese playing hockey that good now ?