At the Olympic Games in Paris, the Belgian men's hockey team the Red Lions beat Australia by 2 goals to 6 on Tuesday evening. Tuesday evening’s match was a repeat of the final at the last Olympic Games Tokyo three years ago.
The Red Lions' match against the Australians was a re-run of the Tokyo Olympic final. In their first two matches in Paris, against Ireland and New Zealand, the Belgians failed to convince, so a strong performance was needed against Australia in order to dispel any doubts.
On Tuesday evening Red Lions had a completely different approach to that of the previous two games. The Belgians’ play was direct, aggressive and quick and this put their opponents under pressure right from the start. Penalty corners quickly gave the Red Lions lead and in the second quarter it was 1-3 in Belgium's favour.
After the break, the game continued with vigour and commitment. The Red Lions made it 1-5 in the third quarter. Australia managed to score one more goal. However, Tom Boon added a further goal to Belgium’s tally and the game ended 2-6.
The Red Lions have two group stage matches to play this week, against India and Argentina. Belgium currently lead Group B with 9 points.