The Indian junior men’s hockey team cruised into the quarterfinals of the FIH Hockey Men’s Junior World Cup Tamil Nadu 2025, extending their unbeaten run in the group stage with a dominant 5-0 win over Switzerland at the Madurai International Hockey Stadium on Tuesday.
Switzerland struggled to match India’s pace, discipline and experience. The hosts opened the scoring as early as the 2nd minute, with birthday boy Manmeet Singh giving India an early cushion. He doubled the lead in the 11th minute with another sharp field goal, before Sharda Nand Tiwari made it 3-0 in the 13th minute through a well-placed penalty corner.
It was the perfect start for India, who thrilled the Madurai crowd that turned up despite cyclonic weather conditions. Arshdeep Singh, who had scored a hat-trick in the previous match against Oman, added India’s fourth goal in the 28th minute. At the other end, goalkeeper Prince Deep Singh delivered an impressive performance, pulling off crucial saves to deny Switzerland any scoring chances.
India continued their clinical display in the final quarter, maintaining momentum and control. Sharda Nand, later adjudged Player of the Match, struck again in the 54th minute via another penalty corner to seal a comprehensive 5-0 win.
This victory follows India’s dominant 7-0 win over Chile and the 17-0 rout of Oman, securing their place in the knockout stage with authority. Led by Rohit and coached by PR Sreejesh, India will now face Belgium in the quarterfinals on December 5.
In other matches, Australia beat Korea 3-1, while England defeated Malaysia by the same margin. France edged Bangladesh 3-2, the Netherlands thrashed Austria 11-0, Chile beat Oman 2-0, Belgium outplayed Egypt 10-0, and Spain overwhelmed Namibia 13-0.
-IANS