Reigning Olympic champions Argentina were held to a 1-1 draw by Belgium in the Champions Trophy round-robin match at the De Bredase Hockey and Bandy Club Stadium.
The draw gave the Argentines four points while the Belgians have only two after three matches played.
The game saw the second-ranked team in the world, Argentina, playing the third-ranked team.
Argentina went into the match with three points after their opening day 2-1 win over host Holland. The second match saw them losing 1-2 to India.
The Belgium side had a 3-3- draw with Australia in the opening day fixture but ended up 1-6 losers to the Dutch.
Thus, the match today was important for the two teams to keep up their place for the final on Sunday.
Both teams only met once last year at the Bhubaneswar World Hockey League Finals in India where the Belgium side won 3-2.
It was the South Americans who took the lead in the first quarter.
Argentine penalty corner specialist Gonzalo Peillat found the net with a direct drag flick in the 14th minute. The goal took his tally to three in the tournament.
There were no goals in the second quarter.
The Belgians started the second half strongly and within two minutes levelled the score with a field goal from Amaury Keusters.
The 28 minutes were played out in the midfield although both sides had chances to score.
Both teams have a rest day today. The Argentines will play Pakistan on Thursday while Belgium will face a resurgent India.
Tomorrow the top two teams in the standings, world champion Australia and India will clash in the only match of the day.
Both teams are unbeaten but India tops the standing with six points. They had defeated Pakistan 4-0 and Argentina 2-1.
The Australians, on the other hand, have four points after the 3-3- draw with Belgium and a 2-1 win over Pakistan.
This year’s Champions Trophy is the last in the series. – BY S. RAMAGURU
Â
RESULTS
Australia 2 Pakistan 1
Argentina 1 Belgium 1
Holland 4 Pakistan 0
India 2 Australia 3
FIXTURESÂ Â
THURSDAY
Argentina vs Pakistan
India vs Belgium
Holland vs Australia
