Rotterdam: Anupa Barla saved the day for India with the equaliser as the Indian women's hockey team eked out a 1-1 draw against Belgium to avoid a second consecutive defeat in the women's competition of the FIH World League Round 3, here on Friday.
India yet again failed to impress with their stick work, but it was a far better showing from their 0-7 drubbing at the hands of New Zealand in the opener.
With India and Belgium ranked 12th and 13th in world rankings, it was expected to be a close encounter but to everyone's surprise the lower-ranked Belgian girls completely dominated India in the opening 35 minutes.
It did not take Belgium long to take the lead, courtesy some sloppy defensive work by the Indian eves. The Belgians surged ahead in the fifth minute when Coppey neatly deflected home a cross from the left flank.
Trailing 0-1, the Indians came out with purpose after the change of ends and looked far more oriented. Indians managed to draw parity just three minutes into the second half through Anupa Barla, who deflected in a loose ball from close range.