Defending champions Indian Junior Men's Hockey Team defeated Malaysia 3-1 in the second Semi-final of the Men's Junior Asia Cup on Tuesday night in Muscat, Oman. For India Dilraj Singh (10’),   vice- captain Rohit (45’) and Sharda Nand Tiwari (52’) found the back of the net for India in the tie while Kamaruddin Azimuddin (57’) scored a consolation goal for Malaysia towards the end of the game.

The PR Sreejesh coached side in the process set up a title clash with Pakistan who earlier faced a stubborn resistance from Japan before prevailing Japan 4-2 in the previous last-four match.  

Earlier it was Malaysia who showed great intent to quickly earn a penalty corner. However, the Indian defence stood firm. Moments later, Captain Che Nur Aqilrullah forced India’s goalkeeper Bikramjeet into action with a powerful shot. The growing pressure resulted in another penalty corner for Malaysia, but once again, Kamaruddin Azimuddin’s flick was saved. The Amir Ali lead Indian sideIndia looked to transition quickly from defence, and in the 10th minute, Araijeet Singh Hundal found Dilraj Singh in the shooting circle. Dilraj turned around and, while off balance, bypassed the Malaysian goalkeeper Mohamad Rafaizul with a powerful shot to grant India the lead.

With positive intent Malaysia took to the pitch in the second quarter and maintained their grip in the game, earning a couple of penalty corners but India bayed their advances and continued to threaten Malaysia with frequent counter attacks. Indian forwards Araijeet and Gurjot Singh were at the end of significant goalscoring opportunities but failed to capitalise and the first half ended 1-0 for India.

With a view to double their lead, the Amir Ali lead Indian side pushed more forwards upfront in the third quarter but Malaysian defense closely marked all Indian players and fought for every loose ball to keep the tie within their reach. Halfway through the quarter, Malaysia earned a penalty corner but the shot bounced off the post. India began rotating the ball patiently in search of openings but a yellow card with five minutes left in the quarter meant India had to defend with a man down. Despite this disadvantage, Malaysia failed to break down the Indian defence and went on to concede a penalty corner in the last second. This time Vice Captain Rohit directed a powerful drag flick to the top right corner and made it 2-0 for India.
India took more control as the last quarter began, earning a penalty corner with ten minutes remaining in the game. However, Mohamad Rafaizul pulled off amazing consecutive saves to keep the ball out of his goal. With eight minutes left in the quarter, Sharda Nand Tiwari pounced on a deflected shot from a penalty corner and unleashed a reverse tomahawk to increase India’s lead further. Around the three-minute mark, Malaysia earned a penalty stroke and Kamaruddin Azimuddin beat Indian substitute custodian Prince Deep Singh from the spot to score their first goal. Despite this, India contained Malaysia for the rest of the quarter, sealing a 3-1 victory to maintain their unbeaten record in the tourney.

In the other Semi-final match a two goals by Hannan Shahid (27’, 48’) on either side of the half, and a goal each by Basharat Ali (38’) and Sufyan Khan (52’) saw former champions Pakistan over came a spirited challenge of Japan by a margin of two goals after the later equalized twice through Tsubasa Tanaka (30’) and Rakusei Yamanaka (41’) during the course of the match.

Enters final: Men's Junior Asia Cup 2024; To take on arch rivals Pakistan in their quest for hat-trick of continental titles