Belgium’s dragflick specialist Alexander Hendrickx will miss out on the rest of the FIH World Cup 2023 matches due to an injury, announced the team on Tuesday.
The International Hockey Federation (FIH) has approved Belgium’s request to replace Hendrickx with Maxime Van Oost.
The Red Lions will face New Zealand in the quarterfinals on Tuesday, January 24.
Belgium suffered a big blow when Hendrickx was deemed injured when the team took on Japan in the final Pool B World Cup game.
In the sixth minute of the game, Hendrickx twisted his right knee during a penalty corner attempt and went down on the turf. He was forced off the pitch and was seen on the bench with an icepack around his knee.
Hendrickx was the joint top-scorer in Belgium’s double win in the 2018 World Cup in Bhubaneswar and topped the charts in the 2021 Tokyo Olympics with 7 and 14 goals, respectively.
Belgium head coach Michel van den Heuvel said, “We will address the injury in the next couple of days, and we need more information on the situation.”
The 29-year-old Hendrickx will be crucial to Belgium’s chances as it heads into the knockout stages.
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