11 December, 2023 Lausanne, Switzerland: Guts, Gumption, Glory! Today, every Dutch must have felt stones under their feet and walls around them sweat in anticipation. Probably, a game that will be etched in the hearts of hockey lovers throughout their lives. Coming back from a 2-0 deficit to drawing levels to winning the shootout, Netherlands did the undoable to defend their trophy. The third-place face-off was a one-sided affair as Belgium beat England by a commanding 7-0 margin.  Let’s have a quick round-up of the final day of the FIH Hockey Women’s Junior World Cup.  Spain vs Japan (Full-Time Score: 2-4) Japan secured 7th place in the 16-team competition by defeating Spain in their designated classification match. Sana Hayasuke scored a brace to ensure victory for Japan. Spain was ahead in the game till the first quarter as they were up by 2-1, but the tables turned as Japan came with fresh and renewed energy after the first 15 minutes and started putting a lot of pressure on the Spanish defense. Spain got 8 penalty corners but failed to convert any of them! Sana Hayasuke was also declared as the Player of the Match for the two brilliant goals she scored. “We tried hard but couldn’t reach the semi-finals but we are happy that we could sign off our campaign with a win,” said Sana.  Germany vs Australia (Full-Time Score: 0-2) It was a day of missed opportunities for Germany as they got six penalty corners compared to Australia’s one. They missed all of the six while the Aussies converted the only opportunity they got.  Amy Lawton, who has been a star for Australia in the entire tournament, opened up the scoring in the 25th minute while Grace Young scored off a penalty corner eight minutes later. Australia finished 5th while the Germans finished below them in the rankings.  “The whole dream was about lifting the World Cup. When we lost in the quarter-finals, we were clear that we wanted to finish 5th. We are happy that we could achieve our goal,” said Player of the Match Grace Young.  England vs Belgium (Full-Time Score: 0-7) It was a well-deserved win for Belgium who have been in prolific form throughout the tournament as they toppled the England defense with some classy goals. Astrid Bonami starred for Belgium with five goals to her name. With this, she became the highest goal scorer of the tournament with a whopping 11 goals.  The other two goals were scored by Lousie Dewaet (39’) and Perrine De Clerck (45’). England’s bad form continued as they failed to perform in both attack and defense.  “What an amazing team, what an amazing tournament! There are no better feelings than to finish at the podium of a World Cup. We are happy with how we performed as a unit” said Player of the Match Astrid Bonami. Netherlands vs Argentina [Full-Time Score: 2-2 (Shoot-out Score: 4-1)] Fierce competition, sheer adrenaline rush, and some great hockey, probably these were the things that defined the final of the Women’s Junior World Cup. Mikki Roberts, what a player! A player who turned the game in a few minutes with her two brilliant PC conversions, announcing herself on the world stage.  Zoe Diaz and Valentina Raposo’s goals put Argentina up by 2-0 in the first half, but the second half belonged to the Netherlands. Interestingly, all four goals in the match came off penalty corners. Dutch custodian Sophia Ter Kuile showed her calmness and precision as she saved the first two shootouts while her teammates converted all four chances that they got, making sure they returned home with that glittering trophy.  “When we went inside the dressing after being 2-0 down, we were still confident that we can win this. Everyone came out strong and gave their best. Probably we all have played one of the best games of our lives,” said Player of the Match Mikki Roberts.  To see the final rankings of all the teams, click here. FIH Hockey Women’s Junior World Cup Chile 2023 – 10 December 2023 Centro Deportivo de Hockey Césped, Estadio Nacional Result: 7th-8th Place Classification Match Spain 2-4 Japan  Player of the Match: Sana Hayasuke (JPN) Umpires: Kamile Mockaityte (LTU) and Jianjun Chen (CHN)   Result: 5th-6th Place Classification Match  Germany 0-2 Australia  Player of the Match: Grace Young (AUS) Umpires: Sandra Adell (ESP) and Minami Inamoto (JPN)   Result: Bronze Medal  England 0-7 Belgium Player of the Match: Astrid Bonami (BEL) Umpires: Lizelotte Wolter (NED) and Kristy Robertson (AUS)   Result: Final  Netherlands 2-2 Argentina (Shoot-out Score: 4-1) Player of the Match: Mikki Roberts (NED) Umpires: Victoria Pazos (PAR) and Magali Sergeant (BEL)   Individual Award Winners:  Best Player – Teresa Lima (ESP) Top Goal Scorer – Astrid Bonami (BEL) Best Goalkeeper – Mercedes Artola (ARG) Source: fih.hockey

10 December, 2023 Lausanne, Switzerland: The round of classification matches to decide the rankings from 9th to 16th place at the FIH Hockey Women’s Junior World Cup 2023 came to an end with a nail-biting thriller between India and the USA. While Chile had to satisfy itself at the 12th spot after losing to Korea, Canada finished last in the World Cup at the 16th place. Let’s have a quick round-up of the four matches that happened in Chile on Saturday.  Canada vs New Zealand (Full-Time Score: 3-5) Madeline Harris starred for the Black Sticks as she scored a hat-trick to beat Canada in an enthralling match to kick off the proceedings of Day 10 at the World Cup. New Zealand’s attack during the entire game was on point as their forwards earned 10 penalty corners.  Canada started the game on a great note with skipper Allison Kuzyk scoring in the third minute itself. The two other goals were scored by their forward Elizabeth Mathisen in the 27th and 50th minutes of the game, but it wasn’t sufficient as New Zealand had sealed the game in their favor with five goals.  “It’s been a pretty tough week for our team but proud to finish off on a high. It was a team effort today as we had decided to go all out from the first minute itself,” said hat-trick Madeline Harris.  Zimbabwe vs South Africa (Full-Time Score: 1-6) It was a completely South Africa-dominated game from the start of the match as Shanna Mendonca scored a goal in the 17th minute. It was then followed by a hat-trick by Malikah Hamza to seal the game in their favor.  Zimbabwe tried to come back into the game in the 36th minute via a goal from Tinodiwanashe Elijah but it was way too far from their hands to match up against the South Africans.  The Player of the Match Malikah Hamza said, “We had got a tough pool because of which we were out of the semifinals contention but we wanted to make a statement today and I am glad we were able to do it.” Chile vs Korea (Full-Time Score: 1-2) It was again a heart-break for the hosts as they had to satisfy themselves at the 12th place after losing to Korea in a close match. Chile’s captain Francisca Irazoqui started the game on a high as she scored the first goal in the 15th minute but Korea’s Mihyang Park found the back of Chile’s net in the next two minutes to level the game.  In the 22nd minute, Sujin AN’s drag-flick in the penalty corner was too fast for Chile’s goalkeeper to defend as they took the lead. Chile tried hard in the second half to score a leveler but the Korean defense was too strong for them to break past their line.  Goal-scorer Mihyang Park said, “We had decided to not give up on this match, whatsoever it may be. We missed out on a few penalty corners; else we could have won it by a bigger margin.” USA vs India [Full-Time Score: 2-2 (Shoot-out Score: 2-3)] The last and most interesting match of the day saw two teams who had a mixed run in the tournament play against each other. The game was tied at 2-2 at the end of 60 minutes and even went to sudden death after being tied at the end of five shootouts as well. The intensity of this game was on a whole different level.  Kiersten Thomassey scored both goals for USA (27’ and 53’) while Manju Chorsiya (11’) and Sunelita Toppo (57’) netted one each for the women in blue. Sunelita’s goal proved to be the difference as she scored in the dying minutes of the match to level the game. In the shootouts, it was Rutaja’s heroics that took India to victory, as she scored off both the opportunities that she got.  “We had seen videos of USA’s matches and had analyzed their game. We structured our game accordingly and played with full focus. We are happy to finish on a high at the end of the tournament.” To see the schedule of the matches on the final day, click here. FIH Hockey Women’s Junior World Cup Chile 2023 – 09 December 2023 Centro Deportivo de Hockey Césped, Estadio Nacional   Result: 15th–16th Place Classification Match Canada 3-5 New Zealand  Player of the Match: Madeline Harris (NZL) Umpires: Minami Inamoto (JPN) and Melissa Taylor (RSA)   Result: 13th–14th Place Classification Match  Zimbabwe 1-6 South Africa  Player of the Match: Malikah Hamza (RSA) Umpires: Junko Wagatsuma (JPN) and Veronica Villafane (ARG)    Result: 11th–12th Place Classification Match Chile 1-2 Korea Player of the Match: Mihyang Park (KOR) Umpires: Durga Devi (IND) and Victoria Pazos (PAR)   Result: 9th–10th Place Classification Match USA 2-2 India (Shootout Score: 2-3) Player of the Match: Rutaja Dadaso Pisal (IND) Umpires: Jianjun Chen (CHN) and Katrina Turner (NZL) Source: fih.hockey

09 December, 2023 Day Five of the Men’s Junior World Cup saw the final games of both Pool C and Pool D play out in vastly different ways. Pool C saw two high-scoring games round off the table convincingly and without complication. Spain’s third win, an 8-2 victory over Korea, saw them top the group unbeaten, whilst India’s ruthless 10-1 overwhelming of Canada pushed them into second, with two wins and a loss. Korea found third, with one win and two losses, whilst Canada stuck to the bottom spot with a pointless campaign. Pool D was more closely contested. After the Netherlands handed New Zealand their third loss of the tournament with the game finishing 3-1 to the Dutch,, the second game in the pool had the potential to shake up the standings. Pakistan had the chance to top the group with a win and a good chunk of goal difference, and Belgium would take second place if they won. With the game vital to both teams, they eventually settled for a draw, leaving Belgium third and Pakistan second, a point ahead of their opposition. The final standings mean that the Netherlands push into a quarter-final game with India, whilst Pakistan will match up against Spain. Match 1: Korea vs. Spain (2-8) In a game where one goal often brought two, Spain’s goal scoring proved too ruthless for the Koreans. In just the fifth minute, Spain scored their first, a converted penalty corner which was then promptly joined by another corner goal a minute later. These were Spain’s only converted corners of the game, but that did not slow the scoring rate as the first field goal went past the Korean defence in the fourteenth minute. Korea were awarded a penalty corner in both the first and second quarter, but it was too little too late, as Spain had scored three more before Korea managed to take advantage of their second penalty corner to bring the score to 6-1. Two more Spanish field goals in the third quarter put the game genuinely out of reach for Korea and meant that their 58th minute field goal was a true consolation. Pablo Espino’s two third-quarter goals, just three minutes apart from each other, finished the game and earned him Player of the Match. He said after the game that “We are so happy [and] so proud for our team, we know that the quarter-finals will be difficult and we are focussed on them.” Match 2: Netherlands vs. New Zealand (3-1) The Netherlands managed to make the top spot in Pool D all but theirs as they beat New Zealand 3-1. It was a game that could have been far more emphatic though, as New Zealand received four first-half cards, including a yellow one for James Nicolson. Two wasted penalty corners in the first quarter left the Netherlands reliant upon two field goals in the second quarter to give them a decent lead. Another Dutch field goal early in the third-quarter put the game out of reach for the junior Blacksticks, despite scoring their first goal of the tournament two minutes later. The game stayed in the hands of the Netherlands right until the final whistle. Match 3: India vs. Canada (10-1) Like so many other games so far in the tournament, India’s huge win over Canada featured a frenzied display of goal scoring. A relatively quiet first two quarters saw India 3-1 up at half-time. A field goal in the eighth minute had opened the scoring for India before they converted two of their five first-half penalty corners. Canada found the net for a second time in the tournament, but it served only to snap the Indians into action. The second half was a fairly devastating onslaught, as three field goals were scored across the 42nd and 43rd minute, before the final quarter saw four more fly into the Canadian goal. Two in the 51st minute preceded two final field goals which slammed the game closed. Two field goals from Ajrun Aditya Lalage were well worthy of the Player of the Match award. Before being handed his award, he commented that his team “learnt from our mistakes against Spain and tried to not repeat those mistakes in this game. We will give our 100 percent in the next game.” Match 4: Pakistan vs. Belgium (1-1) A game upon which Pool D hinged, it was always going to be a fiercely tense contest. Belgium did not shy from the big occasion, winning and scoring a penalty corner in the third minute. The game reached a slight deadlock through the remainder of the first half, with Pakistan failing to capitalise on two penalty corners. In the 42nd minute, Pakistan clinched back a vital goal in the context of the tournament as they netted a penalty corner. With neither side managing to break the tension to find a winner, the game ended 1-1, sending Pakistan through in second place. To see the current pool standings after Day 5, click here. To see the full match schedule, click here. FIH Hockey Men’s Junior World Cup Malaysia 2023 – 09 December 2023 Bukit Jalil National Hockey Stadium, Kuala Lumpur   Result: Match 21 Korea 2-8 Spain Player of the Match: Pablo Espino, Spain Umpires: Nick Bennet, Great Britain – James Unkles, Australia   Result: Match 22 Netherlands 3-1 New Zealand Umpires: Hideki Kinoshita, Japan – Tim Meissner, Germany   Result: Match 23 India 10-1 Canada Player of the Match: Arjun Aditya Lalage, India Umpires: Benjamin Peters, USA – Bevan Nichol, New Zealand   Result: Match 24 Pakistan 1-1 Belgium Umpires: Zeke Newman, Australia – Nazmi Kamaruddin, Malaysia Source: fih.hockey

09 December, 2023 Lausanne, Switzerland: Netherlands stormed into the finals of the FIH Hockey Women’s Junior World Cup 2023 as they thrashed England by 8-1 goals in a one-sided match. In the other semifinal of the day, Argentina and Belgium played out a thriller with both teams not ready to give up on themselves. Later, it was decided via shootouts with Argentina emerging victorious. Let’s read a bit in detail about the two classification matches and two semifinals that were held on Friday in Chile. Spain vs Germany (Full-Time Score: 1-2) Katharina Haid’s penalty corner proved to be the difference between the two sides as Germany beat Spain 2-1 in a thrilling encounter. Germany started the game on a positive note with Marie Fischer scoring an insane field goal in the first quarter itself. While Paula Jimenez tried to bring Spain back into the game by scoring a penalty stroke, it wasn’t enough as Haid converted one corner within a minute to keep Germany in the lead. The last edition’s finalists will next play for a 5th–6th position. “After a heartbreaking loss to England, it was a hard fight today against Spain, but we had our plans in place and executed it well. Although we couldn’t qualify for the semifinals, we will look forward to finishing fifth in the World Cup”, said the Player of the Match Katharina Haid. Australia vs Japan (Full-Time Score: 1-0) Tatum Stewart scored her fourth goal of the tournament to secure the win for Australia. After missing out on eight penalty corners, the Aussie women were finally able to convert the ninth one in the 59th minute to set up a 5th-place clash against Germany. While Australia penetrated the opposition’s circle multiple times, it was firmly defended by the Japanese defense, which has been one of the most formidable ones in the tournament. The player of the Match Amy Lawton was happy with the result but said the team will work with the video analyst on the missing PCs. “We would give it our all to beat Germany in our last match,” she concluded. Netherlands vs England (Full-Time Score: 8-1) The Dutch women destroyed England’s dreams of reaching a Junior Women’s World Cup final for the first time as they beat England to win 8-1. The match didn’t look like a semifinal clash with Netherlands having the ball possession for the maximum time and scoring goals in regular intervals. Trijntje Beljaars, who is currently the highest goal-scorer in the tournament, yet again showed her prowess as she scored two brilliant field goals. Emma Reijnen (20’ and 53’) and Mikki Roberts (1’ and 46’) also scored a brace each while Jip Dicke (17’) and Lili De Nooijer (35’) netted one goal each. Player of the Match Jip Dicke said, “We are extremely happy to be qualifying for the finals of the World Cup yet again. We had made up our mind to play hard from the very first minute and that’s why we were able to score eight goals. We will keep things simple for the final as it has been going well for us. I am sure we would have our hands on the trophy once more if we play well according to our plans.” Argentina vs Belgium [Full-Time Score: 0-0 (Shootout Score: 3-1)] Argentine goalkeeper Artola Mercedes put on a stunning performance as they beat Belgium to enter the finals of the Junior World Cup! Even after continuous attacks and some great hockey that was seen on Friday night, the score remained at 0-0 after the end of 60 minutes. It was then time for the shootouts as Paula Santamarina took the first shot at goal for Argentina failing to convert it. Argentina converted the last three shootouts while Belgium failed to convert the first three, taking them to the finals. Skipper Valentina Raposo was adjudged the Player of the Match for guiding the Argentines to the grand finale. They will now face the defending champions Netherlands in the showdown on Sunday. To see the schedule of the upcoming matches, click here. FIH Hockey Women’s Junior World Cup Chile 2023 – 08 December 2023 Centro Deportivo de Hockey Césped, Estadio Nacional   Result: 5th–8th Place Classification Match Spain 1-2 Germany Player of the Match: Katharina Haid (GER) Umpires: Kristy Robertson (AUS) and Kamile Mockaityte (LTU) Result: 5th–8th Place Classification Match Australia 1-0 Japan Player of the Match: Amy Lawton (AUS) Umpires: Katrina Turner (NZL) and Durga Devi (IND) Result: Semifinal 1 Netherlands 8-1 England Player of the Match: Jip Dicke (NED) Umpires: Magali Sergeant (BEL) and Sandra Adell (ESP) Result: Semifinal 2 Argentina 0-0 Belgium (Shootout score: 3-1) Player of the Match: Valentina Raposo (ARG) Umpires: Lizelotte Wolter (NED) and Melissa Taylor (RSA)

08 December, 2023 It was a day that sprung few surprises in Malaysia, as the final games from Pool A and Pool B fell the way that many would have expected to decide the final rankings in each pool. The games from Pool A consisted of some fairly convincing results for both Australia and Argentina. Defending Champions Argentina punched another stamp of confidence onto their campaign as they beat Chile 8-0, resigning the Chileans to their bottom spot, with the Argentinians finishing on top of Pool A. In the other game, Australia finished their pool stage with a 5-2 victory over Malaysia to decide second and third place. Having only lost to Argentina so far, the Australians fell into second place, whilst the tournament hosts rested in third. France’s high-octane back-and-forth win over South Africa kept them top of Pool B, continuing their perfect record in the tournament so far. Elsewhere in the group, Germany registered a more convincing 10-0 win over Egypt, forcing themselves into second place, leaving Egypt last with no points and South Africa settled in the third-place spot. South Africa vs. France (4-5) The most action packed game of the day saw nine goals scored in the first half as France beat South Africa 5-4. With the starting buzzer still ringing in South African ears, France netted two field goals in the first four minutes. The game then found some relative calm, before South Africa sparked it into frantic life yet again with a field goal reply in the 14th minute. France then converted a penalty corner a minute later to put themselves 3-1 up, before South Africa scored their own penalty corner within the same minute. With the score at 3-2 going into the second quarter, punches did not stop being thrown by either side. South Africa wrestled the score back to 3-3 in the 21st minute, a goal that was answered a minute later by a French field goal to restore their lead. Three minutes of peace was interrupted by Cameron Le Foriester’s second field goal of the game, which equalised the game once again. France then took two minutes to find their fifth goal, the final one of the quarter, the half and the game. Two wasted penalty corners from South Africa in the third quarter, followed by France failing to convert one in the final quarter, left the game at 5-4, France managing to just about extend their blisteringly early lead to the final buzzer. Player of the match, Mathis Clément, called it a “super hockey game” where his team “fought well” to win. Germany vs. Egypt (10-0) Despite Argentina’s 8 goal winning margin, the most destructive game of the day was won by Germany as they put ten goals past the Egyptian team. The Germans, clearly intent on one-upping their quarter-final opponents, scored with brutal regularity. With two goals coming in each quarter – other than the second which saw four breach Egypt’s goalline – Germany rounded off the pool stage in a remarkable manner. Even leaving five penalty corners unconverted, the Germans still scored five corners and five field goals to reach their impressive ten. The Egyptians did manage to win two penalty corners, one in each of the third and fourth quarter, but could not take advantage. Nikas Berendts’ hat-trick was not enough to win him player of the match as Florian Sperling’s two field goals earned him the award. After the game, Sperling commented that it was an “early morning game, tough game – the heat is so intense – but I think we did the easy things right [and] we did them with high intensity. In the last quarter they had no more stamina so we won and I’m very happy.” Argentina vs. Chile (8-0) Argentina continued their faultless pool stage in Kuala Lumpur as they thrashed Chile 8-0. The Chileans made a decent effort of damage control across the first three quarters, managing to keep the score to only 3-0 at the end of the third quarter, however, the final quarter saw the floodgates open. The defending Champions scored five more times to reach 8-0, with Cappuro Bautista’s hat-trick the highlight of an impressive goal-scoring performance. Argentinian captain, Inaki Minadeo, focussed his attention very quickly towards their quarter-final match against Germany, a repeat of the last tournament’s final. He commented “I feel very happy. We are proud of the team and now we have to prepare for the quarter-finals with Germany. It will be a very difficult match, but we have to play as we do and we’re prepared.” Australia vs. Malaysia (5-2) Australia stamped their authority early on in their final group match against Malaysia, as they found themselves 3-0 up at the end of the first quarter. Two converted penalty corners and a field goal left Malaysia with what proved to be too much to do in the final three quarters. Even when Malaysia managed to claw a goal back in the 21st minute, Australia’s reply, six minutes later, reasserted their three goal lead. Similarly, in the third quarter, Malaysia’s 44th minute field goal made it 4-2 before the Australians found their three-goal lead again just a minute later from a successful penalty corner. The game finished 5-2 as Australia maintained the lead they established right from the first quarter, with goals coming from Cooper Burns, Geddes Cambell and Jake Lambeth, the latter two finding the net twice each. To see the current pool standings after Day 4, click here. To see the full match schedule, click here. FIH Hockey Men’s Junior World Cup Malaysia 2023 – 8 December 2023  Bukit Jalil National Hockey Stadium, Kuala Lumpur Result: Match 19 South Africa 4-5 France Umpires: Zeke Newman & Lukasz Zwierzchowski Result: Match 20 Germany 10-0 Egypt Umpires:  Hyosik You & Rajput Sourabh Result: Match 21 Argentina 8-0 Chile Umpires: Antonio Ilgrande & Jonathan Van Hoesslin Result: Match 22 Australia 5-2 Malaysia Umpires: Bruce Bale & Tim Meissner   Source: fih.hockey