Tokyo Olympics: India to compete for bronze in men's hockey after losing 2-5 to Belgium in semifinal

News Network

August 3, 2021

India men's hockey team lost their semifinal match against the 2018 world champions Belgium on Tuesday at the Tokyo Olympics, thus missing out on a chance to make their first Olympic final in over four decades. The last time India had played the men's hockey final at the Olympics was back in 1980 when the team had won the gold medal.

This was India's first meeting against Belgium since their 2-3 defeat in the FIH Pro League match in February 2019. But India's campaign is still not over as they would compete in the Bronze medal match on Thursday where they will face the loser of the second semifinal between Australia and Germany.

India got off to a nervy start, conceding an early penalty corner in the semifinal. Felix Denayer sent a ball inside the scoring circle, and the ball was deflected off by Rupinder Pal Singh. Despite Alexander Hendrickx not being on the turf at that point, Luick Luypaert made the most of the opportunity and scored an early goal for Belgium in the second minute of the first quarter.

It took India nine minutes to get things back to level-pegging as Harmanpreet Singh smashed a powerful dragflick past Belgium goalkeeper Vincent Vanasch after the World Champions conceded a penalty corner. Two minutes later, Amit Rohidas passed a ball to Mandeep Singh inside the circle, and the Indian forward turned a tomahawk shot into the nets to give India the lead.

But Belgium came back strong in the 2nd quarter, getting as many as four penalty corners within a matter of minutes. Hendrickx scored his 12th goal of the Olympics from a penalty corner, getting things again back to level terms as both teams went into the halftime with two goals apiece.

The third quarter was a cagey affair with neither of the two teams getting too many opportunities but India's inability to prevent penalty corners cost them in the final 15 minutes. Alexander Hendrickx scored two more goals, the fourth one coming from a penalty stroke.

With India putting an extra attacker on the field, and PR Sreejesh not on the turf, Belgium veteran John-John Dohmen scored the fifth goal in the dying minutes. But by that point, it was a mere formality.

It has been a good journey for India men's hockey team in Tokyo Olympics so far, defeating New Zealand 3-2 in their opening group game, and then picking up wins over Germany (2-0), Spain (3-1), Argentina (3-1), and Japan (5-3) in the group matches. Barring the 7-1 defeat against Australia, India had won all their games so far, but could not surpass the Belgium test.

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Israeli forces invade southwestern Syria, set up checkpoint in Quneitra

News Network

November 24,2025

Israeli forces have pushed over the Syrian frontier, erecting a checkpoint and stopping vehicles in the southwestern city of Quneitra, in yet another breach of the Arab country’s sovereignty.

The violation took place on Sunday, when the troops made their way across the border, setting up the outpost near the Ain al-Bayda junction in northern Quneitra, Syrian outlets reported.

According to the al-Ikhbariya paper, an Israeli detachment positioned itself at the junction, halting cars and conducting searches.

The Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) reported that three Israeli military vehicles then moved further into the northern countryside, deploying between the town of Jubata al-Khashab and the villages of Ofaniya and Ain al-Bayda. The agency added that a separate Israeli unit mounted a new incursion in the central region, approaching the villages of Umm Batina and al-Ajraf.

Residents said such activities have surged in recent months, pointing to Israeli advances onto farmland, leveling of extensive forested areas, arrests, and spread of mobile checkpoints.

The Israeli regime began markedly increasing its military aggression against Syria last year.

The escalation coincided with increasingly ferocious onslaughts throughout the country by the so-called Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) Takfiri terrorist group, which the government of President Bashar al-Assad had confined to northwestern Syria. The HTS, however, managed to overthrow the government as the Israeli attacks would pummel the country’s civilian and defensive infrastructure.

Various reports have shown that, during the escalation, the regime conducted more than 1,000 airstrikes on the Syrian territory and over 400 ground raids into the south.

Following the collapse of the Assad government, Tel Aviv also widened its grip over the occupied Golan Heights by taking control of a demilitarized buffer zone, in defiance of a 1974 Disengagement Agreement. Earlier this month, senior Israeli officials, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, visited the buffer zone, prompting expressions of alarm on the part of the United Nations.

The United States, the regime’s biggest ally, has, meanwhile, been fraternizing the HTS head Abu Mohammed al-Jolani amid the widely reported prospect of rapprochement with Tel Aviv.

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