With less than six weeks remaining for the FIH Hockey World Cup for Junior Men to begin in Chennai and Madurai, the Indian junior hockey team experienced mixed fortunes at the recently concluded Sultan of Johor Cup in Johor, Malaysia.
India had to settle for the silver medal after a narrow 1-2 defeat to Australia in the final. The win marked Australia’s second consecutive victory over India in the tournament, following a commanding 4-2 triumph in an earlier round-robin encounter.
A major highlight for India came from its 3-3 draw against arch-rivals Pakistan, a match that lived up to the high-octane expectations of the subcontinental clash. Pakistan eventually finished fourth after a 3-2 loss to Great Britain in the third-place playoff. Earlier in the group stage, Great Britain had comfortably beaten Pakistan 5-1, while India advanced to the semifinals after a hard-fought 2-1 win against hosts Malaysia.
India began the tournament strongly, defeating Great Britain 3-2 in its opening match and beating New Zealand 4-2 in the next. The Indian colts then played an absorbing contest against Pakistan, which ended with honors shared.
For Pakistan, the campaign started promisingly with a resounding 7-2 victory over Malaysia, but the team’s performance dipped thereafter. They suffered a 1-5 loss to Great Britain, followed by the 3-3 draw with India, a 2-3 defeat to New Zealand, and finally a spirited 3-3 draw with eventual champions Australia in their concluding group game.
Australia, meanwhile, displayed moments of inconsistency in the preliminary rounds. After opening with a 4-0 win over New Zealand, the Kangaroos were held 1-1 by Malaysia, before bouncing back to defeat Great Britain 2-0 and India 4-2. Despite a 3-3 draw with Pakistan in their final group match, they regrouped to edge India 2-1 in the championship clash, retaining their dominance in the tournament.
The result marked India’s fifth silver medal in the Sultan of Johor Cup, following runner-up finishes in 2012, 2015, 2018, and 2019—a record that underscores the team’s consistency but also highlights its continued search for the elusive title.
