FIH Men’s Junior World Cup 2023: India beats Netherlands 4-3 in a thriller, reaches semifinals

India beat the Netherlands 4-3 in a thrilling FIH Men’s Junior World Cup quarterfinal in Malaysia on Tuesday. The Uttam Singh-led side will take on Germany in the semifinals.

Indian players celebrate after scoring a goal during the 4-3 win over the Netherlands in the quarterfinals of the FIH Men’s Junior World Cup in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on Tuesday. | Photo Credit: HOCKEY INDIA

India beat the Netherlands 4-3 in a thrilling FIH Men’s Junior World Cup quarterfinal in Malaysia on Tuesday. The Uttam Singh-led side will take on Germany in the semifinals on Thursday.

Timo Boers (5th minute) and Pepijn van der Heijden (16th minute) both successfully converted Penalty Corners to give the Dutch a 2-0 lead going into half-time.

A historic victory as India come back from 2 down to clinch the game against the Netherlands to book their spot in the Semi Finals of the FIH Hockey Men's Junior World Cup Malaysia 2023.#HockeyIndia#IndiaKaGame#RisingStars#JWCMalaysia2023pic.twitter.com/YFKv0p0jIs

— Hockey India (@TheHockeyIndia) December 12, 2023

However, India started playing more aggressively in the second half and got the reward as Araijeet Singh Hundal set up the opening goal scored by Aditya Arjun Lalage (34th minute). A minute later, the Men in Blue received a Penalty Stroke which Araijeet duly converted to level the score.

Olivier Hortensius scored via a Penalty Corner a minute before the end of the third quarter to restore the Netherlands’ lead.

Sourabh Kushwaha found the equaliser for India in the 52nd minute and five minutes later, Uttam scored the decisive goal from a Penalty Corner.

India colts’ victory was backed by a grand show of character to hold off pressure from the Dutch side, and the cynosure of India’s defence was Rohit who was hard to breach – as he blocked away six successive PCs in the final quarter ensuring India emerged victorious. He was awarded player of the match for his efforts.