Hamilton, New Zealand – India suffered a heartbreak 0-3 loss to Belgium in the penalty shootout after holding the World No. 3 side to 4-4 in regulation time here in the Final of the Four Nations Invitational Tournament at the Gallagher Hockey Stadium on Sunday. It was Felix Denayer, Sébastien Dockier and Arthur van Doren who scored for Belgium in the shootout while Tanguy Cosyns (41’), Cédric Charlier (43’), Amaury Keusters (51’) and Felix Denayer (56’) scored earlier during regulation time. For India, Ramandeep Singh (29’, 53’), Nilakanta Sharma (42’) and Mandeep Singh (49’) were the goal scorers in regulation time.

Earlier in the day, Japan beat hosts New Zealand 4-1 in the shootout to win the Bronze Medal after holding the Black Sticks to 1-1 in regulation time. Yamada Shota opened the scoring early on in the 5th minute of the first quarter. The Black sticks leveled the score in the 37th minute when Russell Kane converted the penalty corner. Japan kept a perfect penalty shootout, converting four out of four shots, while New Zealand only managed to avail one chance.

Belgium became the gold medalist for both legs of the tournament. India, being unbeaten in the Round Robin of both legs lost both the finals at the hands of the world number 3. The Black sticks won Bronze in the first leg while Japan recovered and secured a podium position in the second leg of the event.