3 December 2021 Day 9: We finally know the two teams who will be contesting the title at the FIH Odisha Men’s Junior World Cup Bhubaneswar 2021 after a thrilling day of hockey action. There was the drama of shoot-outs; plenty of goals, some outstanding saves and, as always, heartbreak and joy as the tournament approaches the grand finale. In Sunday’s final Argentina and Germany will be meeting each other for the second time after the European team beat the South American side in a  tight 4-3 pool match. The third place contest will be between France and host nation India – again two teams that met in the pool stage, where France were 5-4 winners. Belgium will play Netherlands in an all-European battle for fifth while Malaysia and Spain will regroup after today’s disappointments to contest seventh spot. Her are more details of all today’s matches Semi-final 1: France 0-0 Argentina (1-3 Shoot-out) Heroics by Nehuen Hernando in the Argentina goal was the difference separating the two combatants in the first semi-final. In a tournament that had yielded so many goals, the 0-0 scoreline at full-time was an indicator of the tense and tight nature of this game. During the match, France and Argentina played a canny game with neither side willing to take risks and push for a win. In previous matches both teams had played with an all-out attacking mindset; this was far from the case as the two teams probed and tested each other. For both teams, this was a totally different style of play with Argentina adapting to it quickest and looking the more dangerous in the early stages. During the first half, Argentina won three penalty corners to one French penalty corner, but neither side was able to capitalise. Both teams have great game managers in the shape of their captains Timothee Clement of France and Facundo Zarate of Argentina. What we saw during this match was these two players controlling their defences but further up the field a fear of mistakes inhibited the movement and decision-making of the midfield and forward players of both teams. A yellow card for Antonin Igau gave Argentina the advantage for the final three minutes of the game but the South American side was unable to make the most of the player advantage. During the shoot out, Argentina got off to a great start, thanks to the calmness exhibited by Lucio Mendez to give his side the lead with a successful opening attempt. Argentina goalkeeper Nehuen Hernando saved the first French attempt by Antonin Igua but Argentina’s advantage was lost when Zarate saw his attempt fly wide. Corentin Sellier then stepped up for France but Hernando again held his nerve to keep the striker out and it was Bautista Capurro who coolly scored his attempt and sent his side through to the final on Sunday, where they will meet Germany. Argentina’s captain Facundo Zarate said: “We are very happy and very proud. We trained very hard to get here and we have done well. Now we have to play another 60 minutes. “We are going to prepare like we have for the other matches. We are going to prepare equally well and play equally well.” A hugely disappointed Timothee Clement said: “It was a good game for the two teams. It is hard to lose in the semi-final. Now we focus on getting third place.” Semi-final 2: India 2-4 Germany Going into this match, both India and Germany had been through tough encounters with Belgium and Spain respectively and the tempo of the opening quarter reflected this. Here were two teams working at a high intensity and an equally high quality of competition. However, it was Germany who got the advantage in the opening quarter when Eric Kleinlein slotted home from a penalty corner to put his team ahead at the first break. That lead was doubled in the 21 minute when Philip Holzmüller scored. From this point on there was little doubt about the outcome. Germany scored twice more – through Julius Hayner and Kleinlein again and any Indian attacking moves were closed down by the German defence. India did score. Surdeep Chimarko made it 3-1 and gave his team hope but Head Coach Graham Reid will be disappointed that his side failed to deliver the creativity and speed that had been their hallmark in earlier games. The second Indian goal came in the final minute and was scored by Boby Dhami. Player of the Match, Masi Pfandt said: “It is a pleasure for me to stand here and I am so happy to be in the final. We played as a team. We know Argentina is a good team, we played them in the pool [Germany won 4-3] and it was tight but if we play as we did today, then we have a good chance of winning” India’s captain Vivek Prasad said: “It was a great match and a very tight match. Germany played very well and congratulations to them. I hope we can win bronze. That is what we will focus on now. “France is a great team. They beat us in the pool match [5-4] so it will not be easy but we will do our best.” In the 5th-8th place classification matches, Belgium overcame Spain and Netherlands comfortably beat Malaysia. The match reports are below. Belgium 2-2 Spain (4-3 shoot-out) Earlier in the day Belgium squeezed every last ounce of effort to haul in and eventually overcome Spain. This was a game that went to the wire, with Spain dominating the opening half with two goals from Pau Cunill giving the Spanish team a 2-0 cushion at half-time. Belgium fought back with goals from Jeremy Wilbers and Thibeau Stockbroekx to force a shoot-out. An efficient and calm performance from the Belgium players, combined with some very good goalkeeping by Pierre de Gratie saw the Belgium team win the shoot-out with relative ease. Player of the Match Thibeau Stockbroekx said: “We didn’t

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2 December 2021 Day 8: The line-up for the 9th to 16th classification matches were finalised on the eighth day of action at the FIH Odisha Hockey Men’s Junior World Cup Bhubaneswar 2021.  South Africa will face Korea in the play-off for the 9th – 10th positions after victories against Pakistan and Poland respectively, who will now contest the 11th – 12th classification match. Canada and Chile will face each other in the 13th – 14th classification game, with USA and Egypt – respective losers against Canada and Chile – will play in the 15th – 16th play-off. The matches will all take place on Saturday 4th December.   More information on today’s matches can be found below.   13th – 16th Place: Canada 4-0 USA  Canada proved too strong for North American neighbours USA in their 13th –16th play-off match, scoring four times without reply to seal their place in the play-off match for 13th position at the FIH Odisha Hockey Men’s Junior World Cup Bhubaneswar 2021. Canada’s penalty corner routines proved to be the difference between the two sides, with team captain Christopher Tardif, Alexander Bird and Flynn McCulloch all registering PCs before Bird claimed his second of the game from a penalty stoke eight minutes from full time.  “Happy with our performance today”, said Canada’s Alexander Bird, the Player of the Match. “We had a really good fourth quarter against South Africa and we just built on that. We really gave our heart today.”  USA’s Jatin Sharma said: “We played really well in the first quarter but the rest of the match, we did a couple of mistakes, had a few penalty corners against us. We didn’t stick to our game plan and that’s what made the difference.” 13th – 16th Place: Chile 1-0 Egypt  Canada’s opponents in the 13th – 14th classification match on Saturday will be Chile, who battled to a narrow 1-0 win over Egypt in the second game of the day in the Kalinga Stadium. The only goal of the game came a minute into the fourth and final quarter, with Raimundo Valenzuela flicking high into the Egyptian goal from close-range, capitalising on a miss-hit strike from a Chilean team-mate. Egypt hit the post in the latter stages, but it was the Pan Americans who held on for the win to secure their place in the 13-14 play-off game.  “It feels good to finally win”, said a relieved Daniel Beroggi – who was named Player of the Match – after the contest. “It was a tough game but today I think we were convinced and determined to win and finally it worked out. It’s been frustrating so far honestly. I think we’ve been playing good. It’s a tough tournament of course.”  Khaled Elgandy of Egypt, who will now compete in Saturday’s 15th – 16th classification match against USA, said: “We’re not happy with this result. We wish we would have won today. We were determined to get a first win in this World Cup. We tried a lot, but unfortunately, we didn’t manage to win. But we still have one match and we will keep on fighting. We are improving ourselves match after match.” 9th – 12th Place: South Africa 3-3 Pakistan (4-1 After Shoot-Outs)  South Africa are guaranteed to at least match their best finish at a Men’s Junior World Cup after getting the better of Pakistan in the shoot-out following a thrilling 3-3 draw in the third match of the day. Their previous best came at the 2016 competition in Lucknow, but victory in their final match on Saturday would set a new marker for South Africa’s junior team on the global stage. Pakistan opened up a 2-0 lead through Moin Shakeel and Abdul Shahid before Senzwesihle Ngubane pulled a goal back just after half time. Abdul Rehman restored a two-goal lead for the Green Shirts, but South Africa rallied with two goals in just over one minute as captain Guy Morgan rattled home a penalty corner before Idrees Abdulla finished off a glorious team move. Abdulla’s strike took the match to a shoot-out that was dominated by the Africans, who scored all four of their attempts with Moin Shakeel and Abdul Rana both unable to find a way past shot-stopper Taine Bird.    “Shoot-outs are things that we’ve been working on”, said South Africa’s Player of the Match Senzwesihle Ngubane, who netted both in regular time and in the one-on-ones. “We trust our process. It’s all about executing and scoring. Playing as a team is the most important thing. It was a good game of hockey. Credit to Pakistan for giving us a good run.” Pakistan captain Abdul Rana said: “We were in the lead at half-time and then I think we got a little overexcited. The same opportunities we had in the first half we did not manage to convert them in the second half. South Africa played really well and deserved to win. We need to work on our scoring abilities.” 9th – 12th Place: Poland 2-3 Korea Two goals from Player of the Match Kim Hyunwoo helped Korea fight back from 2-1 down to claim a 3-2 victory against Poland, a result which sets up a meeting with South Africa in the 9th – 10th classification game. A brilliant penalty corner deflection from Hong Jinyoung gave Korea an early lead before Poland’s Wojciech Rutkowski scored twice to put his team ahead. However, field goals either side of half time from Kim Hyunwoo – the first being a superb backhand strike from the top of the circle – proved to be enough for a Korea victory, forcing Poland into an 11th – 12th play-off match against Pakistan.  “It was a very hard match”, said Kim Hyunwoo. “We won and I’m happy. Our team played a very good defence today. We want to win against South Africa and take 9th place. It will be a hard match.”  Poland’s Robert Pawlak said: “It was a really tough match. Our opponent did really well today, they were better. It was just not our day. Pakistan is a really good opponent to play (in the 11th – 12th match). It will be a pleasure for us to

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1 December 2021 Day 7: It was another pulsating day of action at the FIH Odisha Hockey Men’s Junior World Cup Bhubaneswar 2021 as Germany, Argentina, France and host nation India all secured their places in the competition semi-finals by winning their encounters in the last eight.   Germany’s shoot-out victory over Spain in the first match of the day earned them a semi-final clash against home favourites India, who narrowly defeated Belgium in today’s final match. Argentina’s superb 2-1 victory over the much-fancied Netherlands sets up a semi-final clash with the impressive France, who were comfortable winners against Malaysia. The timings for those semi-finals, which take place on Friday 3 December, are as follows. Semi-finals (All times India Standard Time – UTC +05.30) 16:30: France v Argentina  19:30: India v Germany More information on today’s quarter-final matches can be found below.   Germany 2-2 Spain (3-1 After Shoot-Out)  Six times Junior World Cup champions Germany rescued victory from the jaws of defeat, scoring a dramatic late equaliser against Spain before edging the first quarter-final in the shoot-out. Germany opened the scoring in the fifth minute thanks to Christopher Kutter’s penalty stroke, with Spain’s Gerard Clapes restoring parity six minutes later with a penalty corner. Chances for Germany came and went before Spain’s Eduard de Ignacio-Simo netted a magnificent solo goal with just over one minute remaining. Just when it seemed that Germany’s competition was going to come to an end, Masi Phandt rattled home a penalty corner before Valentin Altenburg’s team triumphed 3-1 in the shoot-out to break Spanish hearts. “It was really amazing”, said Germany goalkeeper Jean Danneburg, who came off the bench to produce a game winning performance in the shoot-out, earning him the Player of the Match award. “The feeling to catch the balls was so awesome. I’m so happy and proud of my team, that they scored the penalties. For the shoot-outs, I was very nervous this time. But I kept my focus on the important things. It’s a lot of fun with this team!” Spain’s Alvaro Portugal expressed his disappointment. “I felt the team played better than Germany at times. We’ll now look at what did not go well in this match.” Netherlands 1-2 Argentina  The second match of the day was also packed full of drama, with Argentina claiming a stunning late victory over a Netherlands team that many considered to be amongst the frontrunners for the title. The two teams traded goals within a minute of each other in the second quarter, with Joaquin Kruger touching home a crash-ball for Argentina before 17-year-old Dutchman Miles Bukkens netted his 12th goal of the competition with an expertly converted penalty corner. The Dutch looked the more likely scorers in the final stages, but it was Argentina who emerged triumphant when Franco Agostini’s cross from the left took a huge deflection from a Netherlands stick and flew into the goal. The Europeans rallied hard, but Argentina’s outstanding defensive line held firm to keep alive their hopes of adding a second Junior World Cup title to the one claimed in 2005. “It was a very hard match and we’re very happy with this win”, said Argentina’s Tadeo Marcucci, who was named Player of the Match. “I also would like to congratulate the Netherlands, who are a great team. Now, we have to focus on the next match and analyse our opponent in the semi-final. We have confidence in ourselves, with the staff examining all our games.” Netherlands captain Silas Lageman said: “We’re very disappointed. I don’t know what happened. We got a few cards so that obviously made the game more difficult. We were pushing for the lead, then a high ball came through and I don’t really know what happened. But it went in with a minute and a half to go when we were heading for shoot-outs.” France 4-0 Malaysia   France captain Timothée Clément scored a hat-trick of penalty corners to help his team claim a comfortable 4-0 triumph over Malaysia and secure a place in the competition semi-finals for only the second time in their history. Clément netted superb drag-flicks in the 14th and 24th minute respectively to open a 2-0 lead for the Europeans, before Timothée’s younger brother Mathis Clément scored a spectacular volley from another penalty corner situation shortly after half time. France – the beaten finalists in the New Delhi 2013 Junior World Cup – added gloss on a dominant performance when the elder Clement completed his treble in the final minute of the match with another penalty corner. “It feels amazing, being in the semi-finals of the World Cup is simply fantastic”, said Player of the Match Timothée Clément after the game, before looking ahead to his team’s upcoming semi-final opponents. “Argentina is a very good team so now we will focus on this match. We will analyse this team to see how they play.” On competing in Bhubaneswar alongside sibling Mathis, Timothée said: “Playing a World Cup with my brother is amazing; he had a very good game today.” Malaysia captain Akhimullah Anuar said: “The match was good. But with the pandemic we had a very short preparation time. So, we’ve done our best. Today, penalty corners worked very well for France and that’s the result. Belgium 0-1 India Reigning champions and hosts India produced a magnificent defensive display to defeat Belgium by a solitary goal in a replay of the competition final from Lucknow 2016. Belgium had more shots, circle penetrations, possession, and penalty corners, but it was India who emerged winners thanks to a 21st minute penalty corner effort from Sharda Nand Tiwari, who flicked high into the goal from the left of the circle. Belgium piled on the pressure in the final stages and boosted by a yellow card five-minute suspension for India’s Yashdeep Siwach, certainly looked capable of tying the match and forcing a shoot-out. A late penalty corner arrived moments after Belgium replaced their goalkeeper with an outfield player, but India goalkeeper Pawan produced two vital saves to send his team

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30 November 2021 Day 6: The classification round to decide 9-16 position at the FIH Odisha Hockey Men’s Junior World Cup Bhubaneswar 2021 produced four very different matches on Day Six. A closely-contested match saw South Africa overcome a determined Canadian resistance before Pakistan bounced back to overwhelm USA. Chile were undone in the final minute by Poland before Korea and Egypt recorded a thrilling 3-3 draw which led to the sheer agony and ecstasy of a shoot-out that saw Korea break Egyptian hearts. More information on the matches can be found below. South Africa 7-3 Canada It was a cagey first quarter of this match between two teams who were both looking for a first win of the tournament. For the first 15 minutes, Canada and South Africa defended solidly and there was little opportunity for either side to break the deadlock. The breakthrough came in the 16th minute when Player of the Match Cameron le Forestier scored the first of a hat-trick of goals. All three of his strikes came courtesy of some swift build-up play by the African team, and the striker was on hand to send the ball past Zackary Coombs in the Canada goal. Following that opening goal it was still an even match with Canada working hard to get back on terms but a second goal from Idrees Abdulla in the 26th minute and then a penalty stroke scored by captain Guy Morgan effectively ended Canada’s hopes of a first win. They did score three goals in a flurry of activity in the final quarter but by then South Africa had scored four more goals, including a second for Morgan, and for Indy Sehmbi’s team it was just too late. While pleased to have recorded a win in Bhubaneswar, Cameron le Forestier said his team were still seeking consistency in their performance: “We’re still trying to chase that 60 minutes of good hockey. But today I think we just had about 30 minutes. So, till the next game we have to focus on that. “Regarding my own performance, I think it’s just finding yourself in the right areas and then, when the ball comes to you, just take that opportunity. Our next objective is to make that 9th place finish.”  Canada’s captain Manveer Jhamat said: “I’m really proud of the boys. We were resilient and able to bounce back, so I am proud of our efforts at the end. We are a much better team now than when we came here. There has been a lot of learning and growing as a team. Definitely we’re playing some of the best teams in the world, so it’s bound to making us better.” The result means South Africa will face Pakistan in the next match as they contest 9-12 place. Canada will play continental neighbours USA as they seek a first win of the tournament. Pakistan 18-2 USA There was a chasm of difference between the performances by the Pakistan team and the USA team as the Asian side set out to pick apart their opponents with a clinical precision. As the Asian side smoothly moved into top gear, the USA athletes gave the attackers far too much room and seemed unable to find a structure of their own for much of the game. That said, USA never stopped trying to find their own groove and Finlay Quaile was able to make the most of two penalty corner opportunities. This was small compensation for the fact that most of the match saw Pakistan dominating play. The match started evenly, with the USA creating their own chances but when Abuzar scored in the 14th minute, the Pakistan team seemed to reach for a new level of speed, pace and ingenuity. Six goals in the second half put the game beyond doubt but still the Pakistan team poured forwards, exploring every attacking avenue. Captain Abdul Rana scored four goals and the Player of the Match award and he was joined on the score sheet by 11 of his teammates. Pakistan Head Coach Danish Kaleem had been looking for answers after the team failed to deliver in the pool matches and, in this game, his players found the answers. Pakistan captain and scorer of four goals Abdul Rana said: “We’ve tried to correct all mistakes we did in the previous matches. The main aim was to do less mistakes and play basic hockey. The next couple of games are really important to clinch the ninth position. Today was a good game to boost our confidence.” Jatin Sharma of USA highlighted the need for his team to find consistency. “In the first quarter we played pretty well. But we have to find a way to keep consistent throughout all quarters. We all get tired but we have to keep working for each other. I think defensively we need to get better focused.” Poland 2-1 Chile Chile’s hearts were broken by a last minute goal by Tomasz Bembenek as the forward scored the winner for Poland in the final minute of play. Daniel Beroggi had given Chile the lead in the first quarter through a well-placed penalty corner before Julian Blaskiewicz brought Poland level. From that moment the game was played at a ferocious pace as both teams sensed a win was within their grasp. However, it was the calm precision of Bembenek that proved the difference and sees Poland moving on to contest 9-12 place in the next match. The result means Poland will now play Korea in the battle for a ninth place finish, while Chile will take on Egypt. “Chile played a really, really good match,” said Player of the Match Tomasz Bembenek. “They had a very good defence. So they created problems for our offensive play. But we managed to score in the last minute and I’m very happy about that. I think we have to score more goals.”  His counterpart Nicolás Abujatum said: “The feeling which dominates now is frustration. We were playing a very good

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South Africa and Canada began their classification matches and a quest for a top 10 finish as they faced off in Bhubaneswar to start the next phase of the FIH Junior World Cup. It was the second meeting between the two sides after South Africa beat Canada 3-1 in the 2016 iteration of the tournament. A tentative game and a goal-less first quarter quickly came to life as South Africa produced their best quarter of hockey combined with some inexperience from Canada in the second quarter. Cameron le Forestier and Idrees Abdulla both got themselves on the score sheet before Guy Morgan’s penalty corner struck a foot on the line and the captain converted his own penalty stroke. 3-0 the half-time score, but South Africa were probably wondering how they hadn’t scored more in that dominant second quarter. Le Forestier though quickly made sure he would not rue chances as he netted his hat-trick and his fifth of the tournament. First, he squeezed a shot past Coombs before a diving deflection made it three for the impressive youngster. A frenetic final quarter presented itself next as five goals were shared between the two sides, while the South African’s gave themselves some questions to answer. Guy Morgan made it 6-0 with a superb penalty corner before Flynn McCulloch scored what looked like a consolation goal. Trevor de Lora re-established the 6-goal lead when he effected a turnover in the Canadian defence and romped home a tomahawk finish. Canada finished the game the better side though with Sean Davis and Alexander Bird both netted while Bird thought he had one more goal late on, but a touch went unspotted. The game ultimately ended 7-3 to the Africans who march on to the 9-12 bracket and a meeting against either Pakistan or USA. Man of the Match Cameron le Forestier shared his thoughts after the game: “We are still trying to chase those 60 minutes of good hockey, we produced maybe 30 solid minutes, but we know we need to be better. Our objective is to try and finish 9th and that’s what we are working towards. I’m pleased with my performance and goals, just about being in the right place at the right time!” RESULT South Africa 7-3 Canada  Source: SAHockey.co.za