India defeated Pakistan 7-3. (Photo- AHF)
IND vs PAK: FIH Youth Hockey5s: The Indian sub-junior men’s hockey team maintained its dominance on July 24 in the FIH Youth Hockey 5s Asian Championship 2026 being played in Muscat, Oman. India registered two big wins in a single day, where they defeated hosts Oman 10-1 before defeating arch-rivals Pakistan 7-3. Now after the pool stage is over, the Indian men’s team will once again face Pakistan in the title match on Saturday.
Dust to Pakistan and Oman
In the most high-voltage match of the day, the Indian team led by captain Ketan Kushwaha adopted an aggressive approach from the very beginning. At half-time, India was leading 3-0 thanks to goals from Romit Pal, Karan Gautam and captain Ketan. Then in the second half, goals from Prahlad Rajbhar, Shahrukh Ali, Rahul Yadav and Ketan ensured India’s 7-3 victory.
Earlier, India performed one-sidedly against host Oman. After leading 6-0 at half-time, India scored a total of 10 goals. Captain Ketan Kushwaha scored 4 goals in the match. Whereas, Shahrukh Ali, Karan Gautam and Prahlad Rajbhar scored two goals each.
Winning the rivalry. 🇮🇳🏑
The Indian Mens Team produced another clinical performance to beat Pakistan 7-3 in the Youth Hockey5s Asian Championship Muscat 2026. 💙
The boys continue to deliver as they march ahead with confidence. 🔥#HockeyIndia #Hockey5s #IndiaKaGame pic.twitter.com/5ctPvpotfx
— Hockey India (@TheHockeyIndia) July 24, 2026
Great comeback of women’s team
At the same time, the Indian sub-junior women’s team made a strong comeback after the 3-6 defeat against China and defeated Uzbekistan 10-0. This tournament is also the Asian qualifier for the first FIH Youth Hockey 5s World Cup. An amazing counterattack was seen from the Indian sub-junior women’s team against Uzbekistan. Nausheen Naz scored a hat-trick in the match played against Uzbekistan. Whereas, Sandeepa Kumari scored two goals. Apart from this, Shruti Kumari, Kiran Ekka, Sweety Kujur, Neelam Topno and Diya scored 1 goal each, giving India a 10-0 one-sided victory and making it to the semi-finals.
Indian women’s team will face Kazakhstan in semi-final-2 on Saturday. By winning this match, the Indian team will directly get the ticket for the final and World Cup qualification.
