In Johanesburg India lost Belgium 3-4 in the final Champions Challenge hockey. India lost the finals of the tournament from a commanding position, a victory that would have secured their entry into the elite Champions Trophy next year. India led 2-0 and then 3-1 but allowed Belgium to come back in the last 15 minutes to 4-3 through a last minute goal by Florent van Aubel. India's goals came through penalty corner strikes from V R Raghunath (23rd minute), Sandeep Singh (39th) while Shivendra Singh (53rd minute) scored from a fine field goal. The Belgians came back strongly through Jerome Dekeyser's two outstanding field goals in 45th and 57th minutes, while Gauthier Boccard penetrated the Indian defence with a fine deflection in the 55th minute. India had several chances of scoring but their strikers were off-mark and often got blocked by a number of Belgian defenders, falling back to crowd the circle.