Tom Boon slammed in a last-gasp penalty corner to help Belgium force a dramatic 4-4 draw with world number one Australia in the Champions Trophy field hockey tournament in Bhubaneswar on Sunday. Ruthless England destroyed Pakistan 8-2 in the day's other pool A match of the eight-nation tournament at the Kalinga stadium, building on their opening 3-1 win over World Cup holders Australia.
In pool B, the Netherlands outclassed Olympic champions Germany 4-1 and Argentina came back twice from being a goal down to shock hosts India 4-2.
Australia, who have won the last five Champions Trophy titles, appeared set for an easy victory over Belgium when they ran up a 3-0 lead by the 21st minute.
But the fast-improving Belgians, ranked fourth in the world, fought back and were only a goal behind when the last quarter began.
Belgium forced a series of penalty corners and were rewarded with just three seconds remaining in the match when Boon recovered a miscued drag-flick after a penalty corner and smashed in the equaliser.
Belgian captain John-John Dohmen was delighted with the draw which took his team to four points from two matches, following the 2-1 win over Pakistan on Saturday.
"It was an intense and high voltage game and we fought back to ensure they did not win," he said. "It is always very satisfying to see such a performance against the champions."
The new-look Kookaburras, rebuilding after the retirement of veterans Liam de Young and Rob Hammond earlier this year and missing the injured duo of Jamie Dwyer and Mark Knowles, were left with just one point.
England veteran Ashley Jackson said his team's biggest ever win over Pakistan in the Champions Trophy gave him hope for the rest of the tournament.
"Hopefully, we can be part of something very special if we keep improving like this," Jackson said. "We want to go from here with some good medals." Pakistan coach Shahnaz Sheikh said the better fitness and speed of European teams were the main reasons for his team's back-to-back defeats.
"We Asians just can't match the power of the Europeans," the former international said. "This tournament will be a good learning experience for my boys."
Pakistan, who did not qualify for the World Cup, also failed to earn a direct entry to the 2016 Olympics after losing to India in the Asian Games final in October.
Argentina, who were 2-1 down in the third quarter against India, scored threw times through Juan Lopez, Agustin Mazzilli and Joseph Menini to hand the hosts their second defeat in a row.
It was a first win for the Pan-American champions, who had lost to the Netherlands on the opening day. India were beaten by Germany in their first match.
The last round in the preliminary stage will be played on Tuesday after a day's rest.
The group stage determines the line-up for the knock-out rounds that will be contested by all eight sides from December 11. The final will be played on December 14.
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