India Wins 5th Men's Hockey Junior Asia Cup After Defeating Pakistan

The Indian Men’s Junior Hockey team crushed arch-rival Pakistan 5-3 in the final of the 11th  Men's Hockey Junior Asia Cup 2024 to win the Men's Hockey Junior Asia Cup title for a record fifth time. The 11th  Men's Hockey Junior Asia Cup 2024 final was played at Muscat, Oman, on 4th December 2024.

This has been a good year for the men’s Indian hockey team. India's men’s team won a bronze medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics and won the Asian Men’s Hockey Champions Trophy in China for the record fifth time. 

Unbeaten India wins its 5th Men's Hockey Junior Asia Cup Title

The unbeaten Indian team maintained its clean record in the tournament to win its fifth Men's Hockey Junior Asia Cup Title. In the final at Muscat, Pakistan took an early lead, with its Captain, Shaid Hannan, scoring within three minutes of the game. 

India responded with Araijeet Singh Hundal's four goals and one from Dilraj Singh.

The Pakistani team tried to counterattack, but despite two more goals from Sufyan Khan, the result was never in doubt, as India won the match 5-3 in the end.

This was the fifth title win for the India team in the Men's Hockey Junior Asia  Cup. Before their win in the 2024 edition, the Indian team had won the title in 2023, 2015, 2008 and 2004.

The title win in Muscat was also a promising start to the career of the legendary former Indian goalkeeper PR Sreejesh as the Men’s Hockey team coach.

About 11th Men's Hockey Junior Asia Cup 2024

The 11th edition of the Men's Hockey Junior Asia Cup 2024 was organised by the Asian Hockey Federation, the sports governing body in Asia. It was hosted by the Oman Hockey Association in Muscat from 27 November to 4 December 2024. The tournament was open to players under 21 years of age.

Ten teams participated in the tournament and were grouped into A and B 

Group A:  India, Thailand, Chinese Taipei (Taiwan),  South Korea and Japan

Group B: Pakistan, Malaysia, China,  Oman and  Bangladesh.

India progressed to the final by defeating  Malaysia 3-1 in the semifinal, while Pakistan defeated Japan 4-2 in the other semifinals to reach the final.

Six Teams Qualified for 2025 FIH World Men’s Hockey Junior World Cup

The 11th Men's Hockey Junior Asia Cup 2024 was also a qualifying event for the upcoming World Men’s Hockey Junior World Cup to be held in India in 2025.

Six top teams of the 11th Men's Hockey Junior Asia Cup 2024 qualified for the forthcoming World Cup.

India, Pakistan, Japan, Malaysia, Bangladesh, and China were among the top six teams at the end of the 11th Men's Hockey Junior Asia Cup 2024, and they qualified for the upcoming World Cup.

Because India is the host of the World Cup, it automatically qualifies for it, and hence, the 7th-place Thailand team also made it to the 2025 World Cup.

This will be the first FIH Hockey Men’s Junior World Cup for Bangladesh, China and Thailand.

Winners of the Men's Hockey Junior Asia Cup 

Following is the list of the  Men's Hockey Junior Asia Cup winners. India is the most successful team in the tournament with five title wins, followed by Pakistan with 3 title wins.