Bhubaneswar: Belgium outplayed Canada by 2-1 in the opening match of Hockey World Cup-2018 at the Kalinga Stadium here this evening.
Felix Denayer gave Belgium the lead in the 3rd minute of the match. Later, Thomas Briels took the lead to 2-0 in the 22nd minute.
After Mark Pearson scored the lone goal in the 48th minute, Canada gave all it had to return to the match, however, finally they lost it.
Arthur Van Doren of Belgium was adjudged ‘Player of the Match’.
The second match of the evening is going to be a big one as the host nation India is taking on South Africa. The stadium is expected to be at its full capacity with crowds cheering for the team India.
PR Sreejesh, Surender Kumar, Harmanpreet Singh, Varun Kumar, Manpreet Singh, Chinglensana Singh Kangujam, Akashdeep Singh, Dilpreet Singh, Lalit Upadhyay, Mandeep Singh and Nilakanta Sharma have been included in the playing XI of the Indian team.
Team India is grouped in Pool C along with World No.3 Belgium, Canada and South Africa and would need to finish on top of the pool to secure a place in the quarter-final.
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Ms Kalinga