Belgium rallies to hold Britain

Belgium scored a fourth-quarter equaliser to hold Great Britain to a 2-2 draw in the men’s hockey World League semifinals here on Sunday.

Belgium, which failed to make an impression on the sound British defence in the Group B encounter, were relieved to see Sebastian Dockier’s conversion from a penalty corner rebound in the 49th minute to equalise 2-2.

The Belgians took the lead in the 19th minute when Simon Gougnard’s diagonal pass into the circle was deflected in by captain John-John Dohmen.

Britain drew parity on a deft flick into the goal by Simon Griffiths, following its first penalty corner in the 23rd minute. It went ahead on an outstanding field goal by Alastair Brogdon, who capped his run down the left flank with a first shot into the net in the 32nd minute.

Malaysia began its Group B campaign by overcoming a gritty Chinese outfit 3-2 in an all-Asian contest. Both teams observed a minute of silence before the start of the match and wore black armbands as a mark of respect to Malaysian goalkeeper Kumar Subramaniam, who left Antwerp to return home following the tragic death of his three-year-old son.

Contrasting wins

In the women’s hockey World League semifinals, World and Olympic champion the Netherlands and World No. 2 Australia posted contrasting victories here.

The Netherlands was made to work hard for its 2-1 victory by the robust South Korean defence, while Australia thrashed Poland 9-0.