Belgium's Captain Thomas Briels (in red) and Pakistan's Faisal Qadir vie for the ball, at the Men's Hockey World Cup 2018, in Bhubaneswar, Tuesday, Dec. 11, 2018.
PTI Photo/Ashok Bhaumik
Australia players celebrate after scoring a goal against England during bronze medal match at the Men's Hockey World Cup 2018, in Bhubaneswar.
PTI Photo/Ashok Bhaumik
Australia players celebrate their win in the bronze medal match against England at the Men's Hockey World Cup 2018, in Bhubaneswar.
PTI Photo/Ashok Bhaumik
Belgium players celebrate with wining trophy during the Men's Hockey World Cup 2018, in Bhubaneswar.
PTI Photo/Ashok Bhaumik
Belgium players celebrate after win against Netherlands during Men's Hockey World Cup 2018, in Bhubaneswar.
PTI Photo/Ashok Bhaumik
Belgium players celebrate after winning against Germany during their quarterfinal match, at the Men's Hockey World Cup 2018, in Bhubaneswar.
PTI Photo
India's Hardik Singh (in blue) and Netherlands' Robbert Kemperman vie for the ball during their quarterfinal match, at the Men's Hockey World Cup 2018, in Bhubaneswar. India lost 2...
PTI Photo/Ashok Bhaumik
Members of Indian team stand with their coach Harendra Singh, third right, after their loss against Netherlands in the Men's Hockey World Cup quarterfinal match at Kalinga Stadium ...
AP Photo/Aijaz Rahi
Netherlands players, in orange, celebrate after scoring a goal during the Men's Hockey World Cup quarterfinal match between India and Netherlands at Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar....
AP Photo/Aijaz Rahi
Belgium's Aubel Van (in red) and Pakistan's Muhammad Irfan vie for the ball, at the Men's Hockey World Cup 2018, in Bhubaneswar.
PTI Photo/Ashok Bhaumik
Indian hockey player Lalit Upadhyay celebrates 2nd goal against Canada during a match of Men's Hockey World Cup 2018, in Bhubaneswar.
PTI Photo/Ashok Bhaumik
India (blue) Amit Rohidas(R) celebrates with teammates his goal against Canada(red) during a match of Men's Hockey World Cup 2018, in Bhubaneswar.
PTI Photo/Ashok Bhaumik
Germany (in white) and Malaysian players vie for the ball during their match, at Men's Hockey World Cup 2018, in Bhubaneswar.
PTI Photo/Ashok Bhaumik
Tom Genestet (6) of France in action during the match against Spain at Men's Hockey World Cup 2018, in Bhubaneswar.
PTI Photo/Ashok Bhaumik
Indian hockey player Simranjeet Singh celebrates a goal during a match against Belgium during Men's Hockey World Cup 2018, in Bhubaneswar.
PTI Photo/Ashok Bhaumik
India (blue) Dilpreet Singh in action during a match against Belgium (red) for Men's Hockey World Cup 2018, in Bhubaneswar.
PTI Photo/Ashok Bhaumik
Argentina's Nicolas Cicileo vies for the ball with Enrique Gonzalez of Spain (red) during their match at Men's Hockey World Cup 2018, in Bhubaneswar.
PTI Photo/Ashok Bhaumik
New Zealand players celebrate during a match against France in the Men's Hockey World Cup 2018, in Bhubaneswar.
PTI Photo/Ashok Bhaumik
Cup Bollywood
As the captains lined up like toy figures, Shahrukh gave a speech. The Hockey World Cup opening ceremony in Bhubaneswar could have done without SRK’s childhood connect with...
Photograph by Sanjib Mukherjee
India's Chinglensana Kangujam (in blue) in action during a match against South Africa for Men's Hockey World Cup 2018, in Bhubaneswar.
This was Australia's fifth bronze medal in the history of the tournament. The last time the Kookaburras had to be satisfied with a third-place finish was way back in 1994 in front of their home crowd in Sydney.
Australia are second only to four-time champions Pakistan, having won the world title thrice before, which includes back-to-back gold medals in the last two editions of the tournament in 2010 and 2014.
India took the lead but it lasted only three minutes. Then a superior, smarter and more experienced side took control of the match, taking the lead in the last quarter even as India continue to play the catch-up.