Dec 2, 2025 South Africa began their FIH Hockey Women’s Junior World Cup campaign with a confident four one victory over Austria in their opening match. It is the nations ninth appearance at the event and their first ever meeting with Austria at this level which added an extra layer of anticipation to the start of the tournament. With England and China also in the pool both teams understood how important a positive start would be. South Africa settled quickly when Leah du Plessis ran onto a brilliant through ball showed wonderful patience to round the keeper and calmly rolled the ball into the back of the net. The South African Olympians Mokoena Augousti and Isaacs were in complete control of the tempo and looked dangerous throughout. Ntsopa Mokoena then produced a moment of total composure as she doubled the lead after being given far too much space. She picked her spot and finished with confidence. Austria pulled one back through their experienced captain Katharina Proksch just before the break to keep the contest alive. The second half asked more of the South Africans as they collected two green cards and a yellow which meant long periods of playing with fewer numbers. Even so they found the next big moment. Du Plessis stepped up again with a superb penalty corner strike that rattled into the backboard to extend the lead. In the final quarter South Africa completed the remaining time on the yellow card and almost immediately created another opportunity. Augousti slipped a sublime ball through to Mokoena whose first shot was brilliantly saved but she reacted instantly and hammered the rebound home on the reverse side. It was a composed and impressive start for the young South Africans who will now turn their attention to England in forty eight hours as the pool begins to take shape. Source: SAHockey.co.za

02 Dec, 2025 The opening day of the FIH Hockey Women’s Junior World Cup City of Santiago 2025 delivered a high-scoring start and several standout performances. Defending champions the Netherlands set the tone for the tournament with a commanding 10-0 win over hosts Chile, driven by an exceptional display from their captain, Noor van den Nieuwenhof, who scored four goals. India also produced an impressive attacking performance in their 13-0 victory over Namibia, while Germany began their campaign with a solid 7-1 win against Ireland. Uruguay featured in the day’s tightest match, edging Korea 3-2 with a decisive penalty in the final quarter. Japan controlled their encounter and defeated Malaysia 4-1, and the United States closed the day with a convincing 5-2 win over New Zealand, led by their captain and Player of the Match, Alaina McVeigh. We take a look at all six matches played on the opening day in Santiago. Germany vs Ireland (Full-Time Score: 7-1) Germany took control from the outset on the synthetic turf of the Estadio Nacional, setting a strong tempo in the first quarter and capitalising on their early circle entries. The goals came quickly: Schönhoff opened the scoring in the 3rd minute and Frerichs extended the lead in the 6th after a sequence of penalty corners. The second quarter followed the same pattern, with a high offensive structure and efficient ball circulation, adding goals from Haid and Krings to make it 4-0 at half-time. After the restart, Germany managed the match with territorial control, stretching the margin through another goal from Frerichs and later from Reisenegger and Becker in the final stages. Ireland pulled one back five minutes from time through a penalty corner executed by Rebekah Lennon, but were unable to alter the overall balance of the match, with Germany maintaining a high press and defending their 23m with discipline. Germany’s captain, Julia Schedl, said, “I’m very proud of the team; we did a great job, we scored the goals we wanted and a 7-1 result is a very good score. I think we should just keep going like that.” India vs Namibia (Full-Time Score: 13-0) India imposed their game immediately on the blue turf of the Estadio Nacional, establishing a high tempo and a deep attacking structure that quickly led to circle penetrations. The opener came in the 6th minute through Siwach Kanika, followed by a sustained surge that left Namibia struggling to reorganise defensively. India controlled possession, maintained a high press and finished the first half with quick triangulations that widened the gap before the break. The second half followed the same pattern: territorial dominance, continuous circulation and efficiency in the attacking zone. India kept finding space through constant rotations in the final third, with attacks down both flanks and an offensive volume that left Namibia without answers. Goalkeeper Nidhi, rarely called into action, supported the defensive structure as India continued adding goals until the final 13-0 scoreline. Player of the Match Siwach Kanika said, “It was a great start, it felt like a World Cup first match – a good beginning, but we expect much more from ourselves. The key is teamwork and staying together; that’s how we are scoring.” Korea vs Uruguay (Full-Time Score: 2-3) Korea and Uruguay played a tightly contested match on the synthetic turf of the Estadio Nacional, with both sides seeking territorial control from the opening minutes. After a closed first half, the scoring began in the third quarter: Haidukowski put Uruguay ahead in the 30th minute, with Korea levelling three minutes later through a penalty corner converted by Lee Sugyeong. The Asian team’s penalty corner count increased towards the end of the quarter, creating repeated sequences inside the circle. In the final quarter, Uruguay regained the lead in the 48th minute with a penalty stroke converted by Chiara Curcio, forcing Korea to push forward and apply late pressure. Korea earned a series of consecutive penalty corners in the final minute, a situation Uruguay defended with a compact block before Joo Soyeon scored Korea’s second from a set play. Managing those final seconds secured the 3-2 win. Player of the Match María Rodríguez said, “It was a tough game. Korea were a difficult rival, but we did a really good job and we are very happy with the result. I knew I was ready for the penalty; I was nervous, like anyone, but prepared to take it. We won because we have been preparing and because we really wanted it – we said it, we went for it, and we got it. It was because of our attitude.” Japan vs Malaysia (Full-Time Score: 4-1) Japan imposed their game from the start on the synthetic turf of the Estadio Nacional, with an efficient first quarter that shaped the match. Takahashi’s side combined quick circulation and high pressing to produce seven early circle entries, reflected in a decisive start: Yoshida opened the scoring in the 4th minute, followed by a penalty stroke converted by Saito Hanami and a penalty corner scored by Tabuchi to set a 3-0 lead. Malaysia responded in the second quarter with greater verticality and a penalty corner finished by Hartomo in the 20th minute, reducing the margin at half-time. The second half showed Japan’s territorial control as they managed the tempo and absorbed Malaysia’s attempts to get back into the match. The Japanese side increased their circle entries, generated new penalty corners and sealed the 4-1 win with a field goal from Usui in the 55th minute. Malaysia maintained defensive order at moments but were unable to regain possession or disrupt Japan’s structure. Japan’s captain, Minami Ohtsuka, said, “We are very happy for winning this first match, it was our objective. The key was staying united from the start to make it happen.” United States vs New Zealand (Full-Time Score: 5-2) The United States and New Zealand opened their match with a balanced early phase and few circle actions on the synthetic surface of the Estadio Nacional. The breakthrough came in

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01 Dec, 2025 The fourth day of the FIH Hockey Men’s Junior World Cup Tamil Nadu 2025saw Germany and Argentina confirming their place in the quarter-finals after topping their respective pools. While the Germans extended their all-win record to three matches in Pool A, the Argentines had to pull out all stops against China to push New Zealand down to second spot on goal difference in Pool C. Here’s a brief report on how the four games hosted by Madurai and Chennai panned out on Monday. Germany vs Ireland (Full-Time Score: 5-1) Defending champions Germany became the first team to storm into the quarter-finals of the tournament, registering their third consecutive win with a 5-1 margin over Ireland who finished their campaign with just three points from a solitary win. Jonas von Gersum starred for the Germans with two goals that he scored in the 4thand 50thminutes of the match in Madurai. Paul Glander (34th) and Christian Franz (53rd) added to Germany’s tally off penalty corners while Lukas Kossel converted a penalty stroke in the 52ndminute. The title-holders, however, failed to keep a third straight clean sheet as Samuel Dale’s consolation strike got Ireland on the board. Otherwise, German goalkeeper Jasper Ditzer had an outstanding game. “We had three good matches but I think it was the toughest against Ireland because the conditions were really hot,” said Glander, who captained Germany on Monday. “The objective was to have no goal against us heading into the quarters. We didn’t achieve that but we’re really excited to travel to Chennai now and play in front of a great crowd. Looking forward to that.” South Africa vs Canada (Full-Time Score: 9-1) South Africa outclassed Canada 9-1 in the concluding Pool A fixture on Monday to finish second among the four teams and will now have to wait for the pool stage to finish to know their fate as only two best second-placed teams among all six pools qualify for the last-eight stage. Germany topped the pool to bag direct qualification to the quarters, while Ireland and Canada bowed out of contention. South Africa had to thank Jaydon Brooker for the healthy margin of victory as he scored four goals – two from penalty corners, one field goal and one off a penalty stroke. Brett Horn, Sian Maart, Daniel Neuhoff, Carlon Mentoor and Ross Montgomery were the other goal-scorers for the South African team. Robin Thind’s 14th-minute strike was the lone goal scored by Canada, who lost all three pool stage matches. “We wanted to give our all and score as many goals as possible. I think we achieved that. There were still chances that I think we should have put past the opposition goalkeeper, but I am really impressed with the boys’ performance,” said Player-of-the-Match Brooker. Japan vs New Zealand (Full-Time Score: 2-3) New Zealand’s terrific second-half rally gave them the best chance to qualify for the quarterfinals from Pool C as the narrow 3-2 victory over Japan took their tally of points to seven from two wins and a draw. That ended Japan’s hopes of reaching the quarters, while China had already exited the race. Chennai’s inclement weather tested both the teams with multiple stoppages, but Japan will rue having let a 2-1 lead at half-time slip out of their grasp. The first quarter saw three goals, with the Black Sticks opening scoring in the 5thminute through Scott Illerbrun. But Japan overturned that deficit by first equalising in the sixth minute off Kyoya Toya’s strike and then taking the lead with a penalty-corner conversion from Matsuki Muri just before the half-time hooter. The Black Sticks found an extra gear in the third quarter on the rain-soaked turf to first bring the game level at 2-2 when Owen Brown breached the Japanese post in the 38thminute and then went on to get a 3-2 lead three minutes later, thanks to a stunning strike by in-form striker Jonty Elmes. Credit to the Black Sticks’ defence, it held firm for the remaining 19 minutes to hang onto their one-goal advantage and take home all three points. “It feels awesome…I think we are showing that with belief and hard work, we can make something special happen,” said New Zealand’s Jonty Elmes. “It was a very difficult game with (weather-forced) stoppages and stuff. We have to look back on what we can improve upon, but I am very happy that we got over the line today.” Argentina vs China (Full Time Score: 3-1) The last match of the day saw a delayed start owing to the weather, but Argentina stayed focused and rode on Bruno Correa’s hat-trick to beat China 3-1. It pushed New Zealand to second place in Pool C on goal difference and secured direct qualification to the quarter-finals for the two-time former champions. The Argentines had a goal difference of +5 as against New Zealand’s +3, while both the teams ended with seven points each from three matches. The Black Sticks will now wait for the pool stage to end to know if they feature among the two best second-placed teams that go through to the quarters. Correa’s twin strikes in the 15thand 16thminutes put Argentina ahead 2-0 at half-time. China’s Di Yanwei reduced the deficit seven minutes into the third quarter, but Correa’s third goal in the 51stminute earned the South Americans the cushion they needed to see off the last nine minutes and secure victory. “It was important to qualify for the quarter-finals and the team is very happy,” said Matias Andreotti after the match. “I think all the teams are hard (to beat) as we saw in some of the other matches.” To see the current pool standings after Day 3,click here To see the full match schedule,click here FIH Hockey Men’s Junior World Cup Tamil Nadu 2025 – 1st December Result: Match 25 Germany 5-1 Ireland Player of the Match: Jasper Ditzer (GER) Umpires: Annelize Rostron (RSA) and Hideki Kinoshita (JPN) Result: Match 26 South Africa 9-1 Canada Player

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December 1, 2025 South Africa produced a statement performance in their final Pool A match, beating Canada 9–1 in Tamil Nadu to record their biggest Junior World Cup victory since a 9–0 triumph over Mexico back in 2005. The result gives the African champions a faint but very real chance of finishing as one of the two best second-placed teams, the final pathway into the quarter-finals.   With heavy rain pouring down, South Africa knew the equation was simple: win big, or risk slipping into the middle-eight playoff bracket. They started with clear intent and immediately took control of the game. Jaydon Brooker opened his tournament account with a superb finish, and less than a minute later he repeated the strike, almost identical in execution, slightly lower, but equally clinical, to make it 2–0. A brief lapse allowed Canada back into the match when Robin Thind was given far too much space to finish calmly, cutting the deficit to 2–1 by the end of the first quarter and offering the only moment of frustration in an otherwise dominant opening spell. South Africa reset quickly and reasserted their superiority. Midway through the second quarter Ross Montgomery pounced on a turnover and found Brett Horn, who made no mistake this time with a composed finish for 3–1. Moments later Sian Maart reacted fastest to a rebound and smashed home the fourth, sending South Africa into halftime 4–1 ahead and in complete control. Brooker completed his hat-trick early in the third quarter, this time with a flowing field goal he initiated himself, playing a delightful one-two before finishing clinically on the reverse. Litha Kraai’s sharp reactions created the next opportunity, allowing Dan Neuhoff to tuck home South Africa’s sixth before the close of the third quarter. Carlon Mentoor then produced the goal of the match, unleashing a thunderous reverse-stick shot into the roof of the net to make it 7–1. Brooker converted a penalty stroke, his fourth of the game, before Ross Montgomery capped off the scoring, tapping home after excellent work from Brett Horn to round out a commanding 9–1 win. South Africa now await the final standings across the pools to determine whether the emphatic victory is enough to place them among the top two runners-up, and secure a coveted quarter-final spot, or whether they will compete in the middle-eight classification phase. Source: SAHockey.co.za

30 Nov, 2025 The FIH Hockey Men’s Junior World Cup Tamil Nadu 2025 moved towards the business end of the pool stage after Day 3 of the tournament witnessed some intense battles besides a flurry of goals in Chennai and Madurai. Spain emerged on top in an all-European contest against Belgium, Japan stayed alive in the quarter-finals race by going past Asian rivals China. While the tournament also witnessed its first draw, the day ended with an entertaining battle that saw France stunning Australia. Here’s a look at the eight action-packed matches from ‘Super Sunday’. Egypt vs Namibia (Full-Time Score: 2-4) After a cagey and goalless first quarter, Namibia got their act together to beat Egypt 4-2 in their second game of Pool D on Sunday. The win kept Namibia mathematically alive in the tournament,butEgypt’s second defeat ended their chances of a place in the quarterfinals. Namibia shifted gears towards the middle of the second quarter to find two goals courtesy Liam Bruys and James de Jager; but Egypt cut that lead before half-time with a goal from Abdelrahman Kasem. Two minutes into the third quarter, Namibia increased their lead to 3-1 when Josh van der Merwe beat the Egyptian post. A goal from Mohab Hegab brought Egypt back in the contest with seven minutes left on the clock, but the game was put to bed in the lastfew secondswhen Namibia’s John-Paul Britz converted a penalty corner to finish the game 4-2 in favour of his team. “It feels surreal; I can’t just put it in words. The boys put in a massive effort. Obviously it was very difficult (to come back from a defeat). Belgium is a very good side and we ended up conceding quite a few goals. We just thought this is the game we can target in our pool and we’re happy we did that (won),” said Namibia captain, Britz. “We take it game bygame. So,we’ll recover on the rest day, see what we learnt from this game and try our best against Spain. Anything can happen in hockey.” Belgium vs Spain (Full-Time Score: 0-2) Last edition’s bronze medallists Spainbeat fellowEuropeansBelgium 2-0 to register their second victory and put a foot in the quarters – leaving theBelgiansto play a win-at-all-cost game against Egypt in their last Pool D fixture. Spain, who are yet to concede a goal in the tournament, broke the deadlock in the 20thminute of the evenly-contested match when Juan Prado put the finishing touches to an incisive move. Soon after half-time, a 32nd-minute penalty corner saw Bruno Avila increasing Spain’s lead to 2-0. After two matches each in Pool D, unbeaten Spain are on top, while Belgium and Namibia both are at three points from a win and a loss each. Egypt have bowed out of the race to quarters. “I think it was our first final in the championship and this match was very important for us because we are rivals,” said Spain captain, Pablo Roman. “We were really, really serious in defence as we thought that was the key to win this match. We defended really well and I am very proud of the team and our defence. We ran a lot and now we have to rest before meeting Namibia in the last game and (hopefully) top the group. I think we have to stay tight in defence; and when we attack, we fly.” Japan vs China (Full-Time Score: 3-2) Japan revived their campaign on Day 3 after losing their opening game of the tournament and defeated Asian rivals China 3-2 in a tightPool Cmatch at Chennai’s Mayor Radhakrishnan Hockey Stadium. China, however, lost their second game on the trot, which ended their hopes of reaching the last-eight stage. China were the first to strike in the 11thminute of the match when Dongjun Ning convertedapenalty corner. But Japan regrouped after the quarter-break to first equalise through Shun Hara and then take a 2-1 lead off Shu Ono’s stick, with both the goals coming offpenalty corners. The third quarter saw both the teams putting up a staunch defence, and it wasn’t until the 50thminute that Japan added a cushion to make it 3-1, thanks to Kazuki Terasaka’s field goal. China gave themselves a chance to come back when Jialiang Zhang converted a penalty stroke three minutes before the final hooter, but the Japanese held firm in the dying minutes of the game to hold on for a win. “We lost yesterday’s game, but we were not nervous and had confidence for today’s game. We did some hard work, which helped us in this match,”said Japan’sShogo Sasaki. England vs Austria (Full-Time Score: 13-0) England firedonall cylinders in their must-win second game of Pool E to hammer Austria 13-0, with ‘Player of the Match’ Kaden Draysey and Henry Markham scoring hat-tricks. England, who had lost to Netherlands 3-5 in their first match, had to not just win but also ensure a healthy margin of victory to stay in contentionforatop-place finishinthe poolanda direct qualification to the quarters. The Austrians surprised England with their defence in a barren first quarter, but the Englishmenreturned from the short break to score five goals in the next 15 minutes to lead 5-0 at half-time. Four goals each in the last two quarters took England’s tally into double figures. Besides Draysey’s four goals and three by Markham, George Fletcher finished with a brace while Ollly Bennett, Alex Chihota, Michael Royden and captain Max Anderson scored once each. “With the tournament’s format, we were obviously very disappointed with the loss against Holland yesterday. So today we knew that we have to come out and score plenty of goals ifwewant to have the opportunity to go to Chennai for the quarterfinals,” said England skipper Anderson. “So, we just wanted to stick to our game plan and go for the goals. Credit to the lads, they did exactly that. If we stay disciplined in our defence, we can go a long way in this tournament.” New Zealand vs Argentina (Full-Time Score:

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