Boom (Belgium): India survived a scare to pip a resurgent England 4-3 and bag the bronze medal, while Argentina bounced back to beat New Zealand 3-2 to clinch the title, in the Champions Challenge hockey tournament for men here on Sunday.

The weakness of faltering at the death again haunted India, who nearly blew away a 4-0 lead before settling the issue.

Tushar Khandekar (3rd, 6th), Sandeep Singh (14th) and Roshan Minz (22nd) did the early damage before easing off. England, known for fighting from the trenches, hit back through Rob Moore (34th), James Tindall (54th) and Simon Mantell (63rd).

Incidentally, India had beaten England by the same scoreline when the teams had met in the league stage.

The Indiansshowcased their skills and teamwork that was missing in the round robin stage. But they flattered to deceive in the second session by conceding three goals.

Veteran Jorge Maximiliano Lombi marked his international comeback with a hat-trick of penalty corner conversions as Argentina emerged champions.

Hayden Shaw put New Zealand 2-0 ahead with two penalty corner conversions in the 44th and 49th minutes.

Argentina drew level with two conversions in the final five minutes through Lombi (65th, 67th) to force the game into extra-time. Lombi then netted the golden goal to settle the issue.

Earlier, Japan turned back a 2-0 deficit and scrambled to a 4-3 win over Belgium in a play-off for 5-6 positions. (PTI)