After Rio revenge, Tom Boon ready for India challenge

Bhubaneswar: On December 2, when Belgium beat Argentina 3-2, recording their first win in the tournament, it was revenge of sorts for them. The Belgians had earlier been beaten by Argentina in the final of Rio Olympics and a victory against them was a morale booster. Now, their star player Tom Boon, is looking forward for the big one against India.

“Argentina is a good team, and it was great to beat them. Now we are up against India. It is always special to play against India in front of their home crowd. They are a strong team. We are going to enjoy the game a lot,” said Tom Boon.

Though with a perfect three wins, the Belgians are the only team in the tournament to remain without loss. The spirited Belgium yesterday outplayed Netherlands for a fluent 3-0 win depsite missing out a stroke.

However, the most the quarter-final remains most crucial as this would be the knock-out game.

“In this format, quarter final is most crucial. So, that becomes a must win,” he said.

“The first target was to set up momentum for the quarter-final and that is done.”

Boon has earlier played in the same stadium during the Champions Trophy in 2014 and enjoys a good local support.

“The people here love hockey and there are a lot of fans of the sport. With us playing against India, I hope they enjoy and we can give them a good show.”

Tom Boon also played a season in the Hockey India League, for which the Mumbai franchise paid the season’s highest prize exceeding USD 100,000