By IANS
Boom (Belgium) : Jorge Lombi's hat-trick, including the golden goal, gave Argentina the Champions Challenge hockey title here Sunday as they edged past New Zealand 3-2 in the final.
With this triumph, Argentina qualified for the next Champions Trophy.
In the third place match earlier in the day, England made India struggle for their 4-3 win that gave them the bronze medal while Japan surprised hosts Belgium 4-3 to finish fifth.
India dominated the first half to lead 4-1 – all were field goals – but England worked hard in the second and scored two more goals and came close to equalising before time ran out.
Tushar Khandekar scored the first two goals, in the second and fifth minutes, and Sandeep Singh (14th) and Roshan Minz (22nd) consolidated the scoreline before Rob Moore struck in the 34th minute, just before close.
England played much better after the break, scoring through James Tindall (55th) and Simon Mantell (63rd).
In the final, Hayden Shaw scored both goals for New Zealand, in the 44th and 49th minutes, and then it was Lombi all the way. Lombi scored in the 65th and 67th minutes before the 70-minute regulation time ended.
In the 15-minute extra time, during which the first scorer would be the winner, Lombi scored in the fifth minute to trigger celebrations and win the Man of the Match. All of his goals were through penalty corners.