Bangladesh finished their FIH Hockey Men’s Junior World Cup Tamil Nadu 2025 campaign with a win, with the headline being their victory clinching the inaugural Challenger Trophy, introduced by the FIH president Tayyab Ikram as an incentive for the 17-24 place playoffs.
Bangladesh’s first ever title of global significance came via an impressive win over Austria, led by their goal-scoring machine Amirul Islam who scored another hat-trick – as Madurai hosted its last four matches of the tournament on Monday.
Here’s an account of how the games unfolded:
Namibia vs Oman (Full-Time Score: 4-2)
Namibia signed off from the tournament with a win in the 23/24 place classification match defeating Oman 4-2 on the concluding day of the competition in Madurai.
Namibia led at the halfway mark after Josh van der Merwe equalised in the 19thminute to negate Oman’s 1-0 lead – courtesy Maitham Al Wahaibi’s penalty-corner conversion in the first quarter. Gerhard Myburgh’s 22nd minute goal then put Namibia ahead 2-1.
After the third quarter failed to produce any goals, it was Oman’s turn to restore parity at 2-2, when Alhussin Al Hasni produced a penalty-corner conversion in the 48thminute.
With the game hanging in the balance in the last 12 minutes, Namibia not just held their nerves better but also managed to break the deadlock in the 55thminute off a PC and then sealed the game at 4-2 with a field goal in the 60th– credit to the skills of John-Paul Britz and Ludwig van Rooyen, respectively.
“It was the first time ever that Namibia played in a World Cup amongst the best (teams). It’s a big experience for us. As long as you learn, you achieve something…I am very proud of the boys; I think they did a great job, managing to win two games in a tournament like this,” said Namibia coach Johann Weyhe.
Canada vs Egypt [Full-Time Score: 2-2 (2-3 SO)]
A shootout decided the 21/22 positions, with Canada and Egypt fighting it out in a tight contest that couldn’t be decided in the regulation 60 minutes, which ended at 2-2. The Egyptians then prevailed in the shootout 3-2 to finish in the 21stposition.
Robin Thind’s brace for Canada brought them back from 0-2 down, after Egypt dominated proceedings in the first two quarters. Basel Abdelmonem put Egypt ahead in the 3rdminute and then scored his second goal in the 38thminute to add a cushion.
Canada regrouped towards the end of the third quarter, coming back through Thind’s penalty-corner goals in the 43rdand 45thminutes. But his effort went in vain, with Egypt claiming victory by clinching the tiebreaking shootout 3-2.
Mohab Hegab, Ahmed Fouda and Abdelrahman Kasem beat the Canadian goalkeeper Stanley Cooke in the shootout, while only Robin Thind and Lucas Aardenburg could go past the Egypt custodian Ebraheem Arafaat.
Egypt team manager Anis Khaled reflected on the game afterwards. “We finished number 21. We hoped to get the best possible place, but we know our problems. It was a tough group at the beginning of the tournament with Belgium and Spain. Also, 90% of our players are under 18, so it will give us experience for the next tournament,” he said.
China vs Korea (Full-Time Score: 4-5)
The all-Asian face-off for the 19/20 positions produced a goal-fest that was dominated by Korea, before China threatened late in the final quarter through Li Pengfei’s hat-trick before running out of time to lose 4-5 and finish 20thin the competition.
Korea looked to be running away with the match having taken a 2-0 lead in the first quarter, with the in-form Minhyeok Lee scoring in the first minute with PC. He added a second to his name in the 13ththminute off another short corner for Korea’s 2-0 lead in the first quarter. The Koreans entered the half-time break with a comfortable 3-0 lead, as Jaewon Park increased the margin in the 20thminute.
China’s Li got his team on the board to cut the lead to 1-3 in the 34thminute but Donggeon Kim restoredKorea’s three-goal margin three minutes later at 4-1, only to see China earning a penalty stroke in the next 60 seconds, converted by Li to pull another goal back.
Korea began the final 15 minutes by adding another cushion for a 5-2 lead through Gyeonghu Lee in the 48thminute. Just when it looked the game was beyond China to chase, Di Yanwei’s 56th-minute strike made it 5-3 and though Li followed up to complete his hat-trick, it came only in the 60thminute to give Korea a 5-4 victory.
“We knew today’s game was the last for us in this tournament. I just want to thank the audience and our coaching staff,” said Korea’s Jaewon Park.
Austria vs Bangladesh (Full-Time Score: 4-5)
The star of Bangladesh in this Junior World Cup, Amirul Islam, produced another grand show to help his team clinch the Challenger Trophy with 5-4 win over Austria in the 17/18 position playoff.
A goal off a penalty corner for the drag-flick star Amirul and two penalty-stroke conversions put him firmly on top of the goal-scorer’s list with 18 goals – as Amirul, Hozifa Hussain and Rakibul Hasan ensured Bangladesh went ahead 3-0 by the 35thminute.
Austria kept trying to claw back into the game, by first making it 1-3 through Andor Losonci and then reducing it to 4-2 in the 51stminute. But Amirul’s hat-trick goal a minute later gave Bangladesh the breathing space they needed to see off the remaining 8 minutes.
However, Austria refused to give up without a fight and scored through Julian Kaiser (57th) and Mateusz Nyckowiak (59th) to give Bangladesh the jitters but they held on to win and take home the Challenger Trophy.
“It means a lot to the boys. Today we were too tense because of what was at stake and didn’t play a good match. That’s actually something good because we need to learn to play the finals as well. This time we were not the underdogs…For us it’s a very good learning curve. I am happy with this trophy. For us, this is massive,” said Bangladesh coach Siegfried Aikman.
To see the full match schedule,click here
FIH Hockey Men’s Junior World Cup Tamil Nadu 2025 – 8th December
Result: Match 61
Namibia 4-2 Oman
Player of the Match: John-Paul Britz (NAM)
Umpires: Liu Yao (CHN) and Salim Lucky (BAN)
Result: Match 62
Canada2 (2) – 2 (3 SO) Egypt
Player of the Match: Ebraheem Arafat (EGY)
Umpires: Ali Mohammad Shahbaz (BAN) and Khamis Al Balushi (OMA)
Result: Match 63
China – Korea
Player of the Match: Jaewon Park (KOR)
Umpires: Sourabh Rajput (IND) and Ahmed Elsayed (EGY)
Result: Match 64
Austria 4-5 Bangladesh
Player of the Match: Amirul Islam (BAN)
Umpires: Ravdeep Sethi (HKG) and Hideki Kinoshita (JPN)
