Hockey Men’s Junior World Cup QF as it happened: India defeat Belgium to keep title defence alive

9.10 pm: The final word for a man who knows a thing or two about late saves!

Three amazing quarterfinal matches with late drama and one comfortable win for France. The semifinals are decided. Defending champions India take on Germany, the most successful side in the tournament’s history. France take on Argentina.

Player of the match: Vishnukant Singh. (But a shoutout to Pawan for his brilliant goalkeeping)

FULL TIME: That was an amazing 1-0 match of hockey. So much happened. Pawan with a few massive late saves, India win 1-0 thanks to the only Penalty Corner they got on the night. Defending champions through to semis. Here are the full-time stats.

FULL TIME: INDIA 0-1 BELGIUM: What a finish! Belgium look to have put one in the back of the net from a direct moe but doesn’t matter, the hooter has gone and the game is done.

India ball with seconds left!

Q4, Belgium 0-1 India: PAWAN!!! HUGE SAVES!! First from the drag flick and then from the rebound too. Less than two minutes to go and the Indian goalkeeper has pulled off two big moments.

Q4, Belgium 0-1 India: Oh Sunil with a delightfully cool back-flick clearance under pressure. But Belgium come back and have a PC!

Q4, Belgium 0-1 India: Belgium have taken their goalkeeper off... India still a man down. 3 mins and a bit more to go.

Q4, Belgium 0-1 India: The Europeans have been guilty of rushing their passing today... still not able to put together sustained moves. India have the ball back and they will be delighted with that. Long corner with 4 and a half to go.

Q4, Belgium 0-1 India: Well, not the entire match, but nearly most of it as a yellow card is five minutes off. India hanging on for now. 6 and a half to go.

Q4, Belgium 0-1 India: INDIA HANG ON. First a good clearance from the PC by a defender and from the rebound, nothing comes for Belgium as India scramble the ball clear. We wondered last match if India will pay for their discipline and they now have 8 mins to play with 10 men to hold on to a lead.

Q4, Belgium 0-1 India: PC Belgium. India turnover possession. And it gets worse for India, yellow card! Big, big blow. India will finish the match with 10 men.

Q4, Belgium 0-1 India: HUGE SAVE! PAWAN! He’s back in goal and he pulls off a big diving save to keep Belgium at bay. Best chance of the game from open play.

Q4, Belgium 0-1 India: And now we start to see India trying to play the safer passes. 10 mins and a bit more left. Consolidating a bit early?

Q4, Belgium 0-1 India: Good to see India are not just sitting back at the start of the final quarter. Trying to build forward. A 2nd goal could be huge at the moment.

End of Q3, Belgium 0-1 India: Chances for both sides to go in front but none taken. India finish on the front foot with a well-worked move as the hooter goes. TENSE LAST 15 COMING UP!

Q3, Belgium 0-1 India: That chance fell to Belgium’s No 3, Thibeau STOCKBROEKX, who couldn’t quite cash in on a big chance there. (Pun? What pun?) India come forward at the end of the quarter with Uttam trying to fashion a chance down the right, leaves the ball behind though.

Q3, Belgium 0-1 India: Oh what seemed like a tame cross rolls nearly all the way in but Belgium’s No 3 is unable to deflect the ball in from close range. Free hit for India to relieve the pressure.

Q3, Belgium 0-1 India: Game being played largely in the midfield now.

Q3, Belgium 0-1 India: What seemed like a hopeful cross from the right flank nearly finds Ankit Pal inside the area. He can’t quite reach it though.

Q3, Belgium 0-1 India: Pressure from India now, and once again Sanjay impressing down the right flank. 5 mins into the second half, India’s lead in tact.

Q3, Belgium 0-1 India: Prashant back in the goal, and he is called into action a couple of times.

Q3, Belgium 0-1 India: End-to-end stuff, not at a breakneck pace, but both sides looking to assert themselves early here in this quarter. Next goal, as they say, is going to be crucial.

Q3 begins.

India coach Graham Reid: Started slow to be honest, luckily they didn’t get any PCs. We started to wake up and now we need to consolidate.

HALF TIME: India lead 1-0 in what’s been a very watchable match so far. No surprise, goal from a PC. Sanjay turns creator today. India will be the happier side at the moment. But... as we have seen in two of the quarterfinals today, expect some late drama.

HALF TIME, Belgium 0-1 India: A 21st minute goal is the difference between the two sides. India GK Pawan forced into a late scrambling save but must say, the defending champions are in the front deservingly. Solid performance so far.

Q2, Belgium 0-1 India: Belgium with a lot of possession to close the half, India staying solid in defence.

Q2, Belgium 0-1 India: Dragged wide! But seems Pawan had it covered anyway. Three mins left, India hold on to the lead in this half.

Q2, Belgium 0-1 India: Now good work down the left byline by Belgium and they have their first PC. India have Pawan in goal now.

Q2, Belgium 0-1 India: India come forward again and the plan seems to be try and win PCs at the moment. In the process, friendly fire! One of the forwards gets hit on the back. Ouch.

Q2, Belgium 0-1 India: GOAL INDIA!!! Wonderful awareness from Sanjay, a variation worked to perfection as he fakes a drag flick and rounds it for Sharda Nand Tiwari who rifles it in.

Q2, Belgium 0-0 India: A brilliant overlap from Sanjay and from the right flank again, India win a PC. India have been superb from PCs in this tournament. Big chance here.

Q2, Belgium 0-0 India: That was actually a great defensive play by Sanjay in defence. And now the first green card of the night, goes to Sunil. India have had discipline issues in the tournament. Will Belgium make them pay here?

Q2 begins, Belgium 0-0 India: Coach Reid can be happy with what he say. Back for Q2. India under pressure early on and a superb cross from the right flank is somehow cleared away.

END OF Q1, Belgium 0-0 India: CHANCES FOR INDIA! Araijeet Singh Hundal with a great piece of play to make space but a tackle comes in just as he was about to take a shot. And shortly after another chance for India, a shot comes in from left. Saved. End of Q1 shortly. Cagey but gripping.

Q1, Belgium 0-0 India: Prashant in goal for now, but expect him to rotate with Pawan. The Indian defence having to stay alert here. Neither side has created a big chance yet.

Q1: BEL 0-0 IND: Belgium started on the front foot, dominated possession but India have grown into this match as the quarter has progressed. Nice flow to the game now.

Q1, Belgium 0-0 India: More joy for India down the right flank as they win the ball back high up and move forward. Looking for a PC, still no luck on that front.

Q1, Belgium 0-0 India: Superb play down the right byline (seemed like Vishnukant) and the cut back goes through a crowd of players, no leg or deflection to aid India.

Q1, Belgium 0-0 India: More pressure on the Indian goal from Belgium. India hanging on at the moment. 5 mins gone.

As was the case in the previous matches, seems like a small crowd has been allowed in. Also in attendance is a former winner of this event in Harmanpreet Singh and a few other members of the senior team.

Q1, Belgium 0-0 India: India come forward after a good long ball is controlled well. But no shot on goal. Belgium will be wary of conceding PCs.

Q1, Belgium 0-0 India: All Belgium in the early stages of this match. Dominating possession, up tempo play. India soaking the pressure so far.

Q1, Belgium 0-0 India: PUSHBACK!

Indeed, no Maninder Singh in the squad today. Sanjay meanwhile will look to add to his 8 goals so far.

7.31 pm: The players are starting to make their way onto the pitch. Classic colours for both sides. Blue for India, red for Belgium. The winners of this match will face Germany.

Following their silver medal at the 2016 Men’s Junior World Cup competition in Lucknow, India – Belgium’s greatest performance in the competition – the Junior Red Lions will be determined to go one place better this time around. For India, a chance to get past one of the best structures in the world and show where they stand. This promises to be a cracking contest. Can Vivek Sagar Prasad and Co pull this off?

Belgium head coach Jeroen Baart was well aware of India’s threat from penalty corners:

 “India were very efficient (with penalty corners). There are three boys (Sanjay, Hundal and Tiwari) who are very good in PC conversions. Very good with drag-filck, very aggressive on the rebound. It is obviously a big threat.

“For us, it starts with defending with a really high sprint outside the circle and don’t fall on the trap of giving easy PCs away. If we give away PCs, we really depend on our first runners, we rely on our goalkeepers. We rely on our defensive structure.”

— via PTI

07.23 pm: In the earlier matches today:

Six-time champions Germany and Argentina earned hard-fought wins over Spain and Netherlands respectively, while France cruised past Malaysia to enter the semifinals. Germany needed an equaliser with seconds left before winning a shootout while Argentina prolonged Netherlands’ wait for this title courtesy a late own goal.

The Indian starting XI for the match. Notable absentee is No 13 Maninder Singh who had a great start to the tournament with his creativity shining bright. He had to go off injured in the previous match. Sanjay has been the main goal-scorer, with his prowess from the penalty corners.

India

How they qualified: Host nation 

Junior World Cup history: 2016 – 1st, 2013 – 10th, 2009 – 9 th, 2005 – 4 th , 2001 – 1 st, 1997 – 2 nd, 1985 – 5 th, 1982 – 5 th, 1979 – 5 th

Belgium 

How they qualified: 5 th Place – EuroHockey Junior Championship 

Junior World Cup history: 2016 – 2 nd , 2013 – 6 th, 2009 – 11th, 2005 – 11th, 1997 – 12th, 1985 – 11th 

07.10 pm: Hello and welcome to our live coverage of FIH Men’s Junior Hockey World Cup. Stay tuned for updates from the high-stakes clash between defending champions India and 2016 runners-up Belgium at the Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar.

India would be banking on their attacking instinct and drag-flicking prowess to outwit European giants Belgium in the quarterfinal of the tournament in Odisha on Wednesday. One of the title favourites, India were slow to get off the blocks as they were stunned 4-5 by France before they got their acts together and outplayed Canada 13-1 and Poland 8-2 to finish second in Pool B and qualify for the knockout round.

Belgium, meanwhile, finished top of Pool A after two wins and a draw against Malaysia.

It promises to be a cracking contest. Pushback at 730 pm IST and the match is live on the Star Sports network and Disney+ Hotstar.