England signed off from the FIH Hockey Men’s Junior World Cup Tamil Nadu 2025 with their fifth consecutive win, which was good enough for them to earn a 9thplace as the fiercely-contested tournament witnessed the conclusion of the 9-24-place classification rounds.
The English team survived some nervous moments to beat Ireland, while Australia bagged the 11thplace with victory over South Africa.
Here’s a round-up of action from Tuesday in Chennai.
Chile vs Switzerland (Full-Time Score: 2-1)
Chile came from behind to secure the 15thspot with a fighting 2-1 win over Switzerland at the Mayor Radhakrishnan Hockey Stadium in Chennai on Tuesday to end their tournament on a high.
It was only the second win in six matches for the Chileans. On the other hand, the Swiss team had a forgettable classification round and lost all its matches after doing well to register two wins in the pool stage – which incidentally included a 3-2 win over Chile.
The first 15 minutes didn’t see any goals. But Jens Fluck broke the deadlock in the 18thminute to put Switzerland ahead from a penalty corner. Chile, however, managed to make things even before half-time, scoring the equaliser through Juan Velasco Kouyoumdjian. Umpire Annelize Rostron was kept busy by the players, forcing her to show three yellow cards in the second quarter – with Maurizio Ribaudo of Switzerland and Chile’s Gaspar Fosalba and Santiago Pizarro serving five-minute suspensions each.
With the game in the balance, the third quarter saw the teams being cagey for most part but captain Felipe Richard completed Chile’s rally to put them ahead 2-1 in the 40thminute, and the scoreboard stayed as is at the last two-minute quarter break.
The Chilean defence fought well to hang on to the thin lead in the goalless last quarter and ensure victory.
“We knew it was going to be a tough match. We played against Switzerland in the group (stage), and I think this was our chance to win. It was tough. We really needed to defend a lot and I think we did a great job. We are happy to achieve our goal and now need to keep improving,” said Chile captain Richard.
Japan vs Malaysia [Full-Time Score: 1(0) – 1(3)]
Malaysia had their goalkeeper Haziq Hairul to thank for 13th-place finish as he stood tall in the post during a nervous shootout againstthefellow Asian team Japan in Chennai.
It turned out to be a show of defence by each team as the finishing of strikers on boththesides left a lot to be desired. The game saw its first goal as late as the 29thminute, when Azimuddin Kamaruddin scoredfor Malaysiaoff a penalty corner. Japan had to wait until the 53rdminute when they finally managed to convert one of their attacks into goal through Shun Hara to force a tiebreaking shootout.
The game saw just one of the 13 penalty corners producing a goal, with Japan failing to make their six PCs count and Malaysia converting just one out of seven.
The shootout turned even more disappointing for Japan, as the Malaysian custodian Hairul didn’t let Shogo Sasaki, Naru Kimura and Shun Hara go past him. In contrast, Malaysia scored off all their first three attempts, as Danish Khairil, AddyJazmi Jamlus and Adam Johari scored past the Japanese keeper.
“Thank you so much. All our players played well today; we followed our structure. Congrats to our goalkeeper (Haziq Hairul) for playing so well and getting the Player-of-the-Match award,” said Malaysia captain Danish Khairil after the match.
Australia vs South Africa (Full-Time Score: 4-2)
Australia’s concluding fixture, of an otherwise disappointing campaign by their high standards, produced a 4-2 win over South Africa that earned themthe11thplace in the tournament.
The win was a consolationonefor the Burras who entered the tournament hoping to end a 28-year wait since they won their only FIH Junior Men’s World Cup in 1997. Australia haven’t been on the podium either since 2009, when they finished with a bronze medal.
The Aussies dominated the majority of the 60 minutes, except for the occasion when South Africa’s Jaydon Brooker utilized a penalty corner to bring his team level at 1-1 just before half-time, after Australia had taken the lead in the 22ndminute off the stick of Duncan Jackson.
Patrick Andrew put the Aussies back in front in the 35thminute, and the former champions made use of two more penalty corners in the final quarter to make it 4-1 – thanks to Dylan Brick (51st) and Matthew Hawthorne (55th) – and take a decisive lead. The South Africans did manage to pull one goal back in the 57thminute, with Litha Kraai’s strike that ended the game at 4-2.
“It was definitely important for us to finish with a win. We didn’t have the best tournament that we wanted to. We just spoke about it today, that it’s the last time these 18 boys are going to play together (in this tournament). So, we decided to just have fun, enjoy the hockey that we did, and it was good to get the win,” said AustraliacaptainDylan Downey. “It’s the first time for me (in India). It’s very different but the experience has been awesome.”
England vs Ireland (Full-Time Score:2-0)
England restored some of their pride by finishing best among the teams that failed to make it to the quarterfinals, beating Ireland 2-0 to go home with a 9th place finish, in a tournament they have never won.
England’s best show in a Junior Men’s World Cup has been two fourth-place finishes in 1997 and 2001. But on Tuesday, they were clearly the better team in a match among two neighbours. In fact, this was England’s fifth straight win of this edition. But the only match they lost out of six – their tournament opener against Netherlands – cost them a place in the quarters.
The game was played in an attacking nature, with England earning 10 penalty corners and Ireland seven, while both the teams were awarded a penalty stroke each. England made better use of its chances, with Kaden Draysey leading from the front to score both of his team’s goals by converting a 10th-minute penalty stroke to end the stalemate and adding a cushion in the 23rdminute off a penalty corner.
Ireland were at their best in the third quarter, in which they created five penalty corners and were also awarded a penalty stroke, but they failed to put any of them across England goalkeeper James Carleton.
The script of the last two quarters saw both the teams failing to convert their chances, and England’s better defence helped them clinch a 2-0 win.
“It was a great game. Ireland put up an absolutely brilliant fight. Right till the death, it was a real battle. That’s what we expect from them. Five wins in the tournament out of six matches, but we will still get the label of 9thplace, which we would want to improve upon coming back in two-years’ time,” said England captain Max Anderson.
“The lads had been absolutely brilliant. We had been building for this for three years. Some of us have played our last junior international match. A lot of disappointment early on after losing to the Dutch. We knew that (match) was going to be very important in the tournament to try and get through (to the quarter-finals). We gave it our all. I think one word to sum it all up will be ‘proud’,” he concluded.
To see the full match schedule,click here
FIH Hockey Men’s Junior World Cup Tamil Nadu 2025 – 9th December
Result: Match 65
Chile 2-1 Switzerland
Player of the Match: Simon Frenk (CHI)
Umpires: Bevan Nichol (NZL) and Annelize Rostron (RSA)
Result: Match 66
Japan1 (0) – 1 (3 SO) Malaysia
Player of the Match: Haziq Hairul (MAS)
Umpires: Ravdeep Sethi (HKG) and Ana Vazquez Escalante (MEX)
Result: Match 67
Australia 4-2 South Africa
Player of the Match: Oliver Stebbings (AUS)
Umpires: Sourabh Rajput (IND) and Mohammad Shahbaz Ali (BAN)
Result: Match 68
England2–0Ireland
Player of the Match:James Carleton (ENG)
Umpires:Ahmed Elsayed (EGY) and Benjamin Peters (USA)
Source: FIH.hockey
