India suffered a heartbreaking loss to Belgium in the Tokyo Olympics men's hockey semi-final as they went down 2-5 on Tuesday. India will now compete in the bronze medal against either Australia or Germany who will face-off in the second semi-final later in the day. India conceded early in the first quarter as Belgium converted a penalty corner to take the lead in the second minute. India ended the first half well as they fought back to take 2-1 lead after the first 15 minutes of the contest.
Mandeep Singh and Harmanpreet Singh scored the goals for India. Belgium, number two in world rankings, equalised in the second quarter thanks to Alexander Hendrickx's strike. The third quarter ended goalless but Belgium proved to be too be good on the day as they scored three goals in the final 15 minutes of the semi-final clash to book their place in the final of the Tokyo Olympics.
Trailing by two goals in the final minutes of the semi-final match, India withdrew their star goalkeeper PR Sreejesh but the move backfired as Belgium scored another goal to finish the game.
Hendrickx scored a hat-trick with two late goals in the last quarter to ensure the reigning world champions a place in the final. The winner of the second semi-final, scheduled to be played later in the day, will face Belgium in the gold medal match on Thursday.
The Indian defence was put under pressure and they conceded 14 penalty corners and a penalty stroke during the semi-final clash. Out of Belgium's five goals, three came via penalty corners.