~ A real test for the hosts awaits from the quarter-finals on December 5; Manmeet Singh and Sharda Nand Tiwari shine for India with a brace ~
Chennai, December 2, 2025: The Indian junior men’s hockey team made their way to the quarter-finals of the prestigious FIH Hockey Men’s Junior World Cup Tamil Nadu 2025 following their unbeaten run in the round robin competition. On Tuesday, the team convincingly defeated Switzerland 5-0 in the Madurai International Hockey Stadium. The team led by Rohit and coached by PR Sreejesh will take on Belgium on December 5.
The visitors were no match for the experience and dominant performance of India Colts. India’s goal rush started in the second minute when birthday boy Manmeet Singh cushioned the home side early in the match. He doubled the lead to 2-0 in the 11th minute with another scintillating field goal, while Sharda Nand Tiwari made it 3-0 in the 13th minute with his well-executed PC.
It was exactly the kind of start that India were looking for and they mesmerized the Madurai crowd, who turned up despite the hurricane weather. Arshdeep Singh, who scored a hat-trick of goals in the previous match against Oman, scored India’s fourth goal in the 28th minute. Meanwhile, goalkeeper Prince Deep Singh was at the top of his game and made some fantastic saves that stopped Switzerland from scoring goals.
India’s performance was clinical and kept the momentum going into the fourth quarter. Sharda Nand, who was named player of the match, scored his second goal and India’s fifth goal in the 54th minute through a PC. This sealed the match for India, with no room for Switzerland to threaten the team.
It was another big win for India after they defeated Chile 7-0 and Oman 17-0 in their previous matches to equal the knockout stages.
India will play the quarter-finals in Chennai on December 5.
The live streaming of FIH Hockey Men’s Junior World Cup Tamil Nadu 2025 matches will be available on JioHotstar.