India’s scintillating show in the Rourkela leg of the FIH Pro League continued unabated as they lost 2-4 against Belgium to suffer their third straight defeat at the Birsa Munda Hockey Stadium here on Saturday.
This was the second meeting between the two teams at this stage, with Belgium winning the earlier match 3–1. India were then crushed by Argentina 0-8 in their next match here.
Alexander Hendrickx (14th, 17th minute) led the visitors’ raid, supported by goals from Hugo Labouchere (11th) and Arthur de Sloover (15th).
India showed improved defensive character in the second half as they kept a clean sheet but strikes from Aditya Lalage (24th) and skipper Harmanpreet Singh (37th) were not enough to overcome the early deficit.
Belgium opened proceedings and immediately established control. While Indian vice-captain Hardik Singh excited the crowd with an early foray forward, the hosts struggled to test the Belgian defence.
India thought they had taken the lead as early as the seventh minute, but the goal was disallowed.
Belgium quickly capitalized on the tempo and earned their first penalty corner in the 11th minute, which Labouchere successfully converted.
The pressure continued and in the 14th minute Hendrickx doubled the lead with a powerful swipe from another penalty corner.
Despite India goalkeeper Suraj Karkera making a crucial save moments later, Belgium struck again in the final minute of the quarter.
De Sloover opted for a variation on his third penalty corner, setting up a series of short passes to make it 3-0.
Belgium picked up right where they left off in the second quarter. Earning his fourth penalty corner in the 17th minute, Hendrickx made no mistake with his swipe to extend the lead to 4-0.
Desperate for an answer, India pushed forward.
The breakthrough came in the 24th minute when Abhishek dribbled past the Belgian defense and fired home. Although goalkeeper Loic Van Doren made the opening save, Lalage expertly attacked to pull one back.
Belgium earned a fifth penalty corner in the dying moments of the half, but the strike went wide.
The third quarter brought a more even match.
In the 36th minute, the Indian defense successfully cleared Belgium’s sixth penalty corner.
Moments later, Sukhjeet Singh’s brilliant drive earned India a penalty corner of their own. Captain Harmanpreet stepped up and converted the chance superbly in the 37th minute to score his first goal of the 2025-26 season to reduce the deficit to 4-2.
The teams went toe-to-toe for the rest of the quarter.
Karkera made a solid save against another Belgium penalty corner and Van Doren denied Harmanpreet’s effort from India’s second penalty corner in the 44th minute.
India started the final quarter with urgency and almost made it 4-3, but Van Doren pulled off an excellent save to deny the home side.
Two minutes later, Indian goalkeeper Pawan stepped up to thwart a dangerous Belgian attack. As the clock ticked down, Belgium switched to an ultra-aggressive approach to close out the game.
Pawan pulled off a massive double save in the 56th minute to keep India’s hopes alive, but despite their best efforts to find space in the final two minutes, a resolute Belgian defense held firm to secure victory.
India will play the final match of the Rourkela leg against Argentina on Sunday.
– The end
Issued by:
Saurabh Kumar
Published on:
February 14, 2026