All three junior teams India, Korea and Malaysia did well. India secured the 4th tournament place whereas Korea and Malaysia did 6th and 11th respectively. Here is a brief glimpse of their tournament performance.
INDIA – 4th Place
India, a strong team in the continent and in the world, started their first match in Group D against Wales by beating them 5-1 in their opening game of the Junior World Cup that was so long awaited after the rescheduling due to COVID 19.
On their way to finish first in their group, they managed to beat Germany 2-1 in a tough match. It could be said that Germany was the most difficult team in Group D for the team coached by Erik Woninke.
In the last match of the group was the Asian duel against Malaysia, where the Indian team managed to win it with a comfortable 4-0, making it clear which is one of the best teams in the continent.
Mumtaz Khan scored a hat-trick to end its pool engagements with an unbeaten record in the FIH Junior World Cup in Potchefstroom.
Already assured of a quarterfinal berth before Tuesday’s tie, India scored four field goals — three by Mumtaz (10th, 26th, 59th minutes) and one by Sangita Kumari (11th).
India, finished on top of Pool D with maximum nine points from three wins out of as many matches. Their confidence on a different level after ensuring a knock-out berth, the Indians completely dominated the proceedings and created a flurry of chances from the word go.
With this result, India would face South Korea in the quarterfinals.
The Indian Women’s hockey team face South Korea, a partner from the region. But India continued its unbeaten run defeated South Korea 3-0 to enter the semifinals of the FIH Junior World Cup for the second time in their history.
The Indians, who topped the pool stage with an all-win record, scored through Mumtaz Khan (11th minute) Lalrindiki (15th) and Sangita Kumari (41st) to emerge winners in the quarterfinal match.
India’s best result in the tournament remains the bronze medal finish at the 2013 edition in Monchengladbach, Germany, where they defeated England 3-2 in shootout following a 1-1 stalemate in regulation time.
The semifinal was against none other than the mighty England.
The Indian junior team went down 3-0 in a shootout against England on Tuesday (April 12). The result marked the end of a spectacular run with a fourth-place finish at the 2022 FIH Hockey Women’s Junior World Cup in Potchefstroom, South Africa.
Both teams were tied at 2-2 in the regulation time. Mumtaz, India’s highest goal scorer with eight goals, struck twice (21′ and 47′) while Millie Giglio (18′) and Claudia Swain (58′) scored for the English side to take the match to a shoot-out.
Unfortunately, India stumbled in the shootout as Sharmila Devi, skipper Salima Tete and Sangita Kumari missed their chances. England avenged their loss from the 2013 Junior World Cup in Monchengladbach as Katie Curtis, Swain and Maddie Axford helped their team attain a bronze medal finish at the marquee event.
In 2013, it was India who defeated England in a shootout to fetch their first bronze medal at the Junior World Cup.
India was off to a shaky start after conceding a goal to England’s Millie Giglio in the 18th minute into the match. Giglio’s shot from inside the circle went past India’s goalkeeper Bichu Devi Kharibam as she mistimed her kick.
India equalized through Mumtaz, who struck her seventh goal of the tournament to slot the ball into the English goal to level the scores at 1-1 in the 21st minute.
Just a few minutes before the final whistle, England’s Claudia Swain scored the equalizer 2-2 to take the match to a shootout.
Mumtaz once again scored for India to provide her team with a 2-1 lead in the 47th minute. The English team mounted numerous raids into the Indian defense, looking for opportunities for an equalizer.
Indian skipper Salina Tete expressed her pride in the team for their outstanding campaign. Speaking about India’s performance, Salina Tete, said:
“We’ve played well so far but it was hard luck today against England. Despite the loss, we fought together as a team throughout. We are a young bunch; it was a good experience. However, next time we will look to do even better.”
Khan Mumtaz was one of the tournament’s top scorers with 8 goals.
KOREA – 6th Place
In the tournament preview, the Korean team’s coach Yu Moon-ki remarked the following:
“The spread of the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19) made it difficult to train, with many players being replaced, but as much as we prepared hard, we will reproduce the glory of the championship.”
Korea won the championship of this tournament in 2001 and 2005.
Korea was on Group C with Uruguay, Argentina and Austria.
The Korean junior women’s hockey team won the first match of the World Cup group stage against Uruguay.
They defeated Uruguay 1-0 in the first round of Group C on the first day of the tournament held in Pochepstrom, South Africa.
Korea, who had been tight 0-0 until the 3rd quarter, scored the winning goal in the 11th minute of the 4th quarter and defeated Uruguay.
It was an even match where they attacked and defended in the same way, leaving a close match to finish with the victory against the team from the Pan American region.
Historically Korea has more participation in Junior international tournaments, which is why experience took precedence over a Uruguayan team that is still growing.
In the second match of the group, Korea played against Argentina, champion of this tournament in the past, that is why the preparation was knowing that they had to channel the fast Argentine players to be able to counter attack and convert as soon as possible.
After only 4 minutes of play, Argentina had already taken the lead, which led Korea to prevent them from scoring more goals in order to advance as far as possible.
The match ended 2-0 with a victory for the South American team, leaving Korea at 0 but having been able to meet the goal of not conceding so many goals or attacks and being able to strengthen the defense.
The third match of the group was against the European team Austria, and they needed to win in order to get in to the quarterfinals.
Korea’s junior women’s hockey team succeeded in advancing to the quarterfinals of the World Cup for the first time in 13 years.
Korea, led by coach Yu Mun-ki, lost 0-1 to Austria in the third group match of Group C on the 5th day of the 2022 International Hockey Federation (FIH) Women’s Junior World Cup held.
Korea, which recorded 1 win and 2 losses, was tied with Uruguay and Austria, but advanced to the quarterfinals as 2nd place in the group ahead in goal difference.
Although the match was even and very well defended by the Korean team, the victory was not achieved but miraculously the qualification was given to show that the team had more to give and progress in this tournament.
It was the first time in 13 years that Korea has advanced to the quarterfinals of this tournament since placing third in 2009. Korea remained 11th and 12th in the 2013 and 2016 competitions.
In the quarterfinal match they met India, a team that Korea already knows from Asian tournaments and that has well studied them because of the possibility of playing both official and friendly matches.
India would leave nothing to chance and came out with everything on the court, trying to get the long-awaited qualification to the semifinals. Korea tried to show why they were there, and take advantage of the opportunity that the numbers had given them to be among the top 4 in the world. Although the effort was great by the team led by Seona Kim, it was not enough and Korea would go to play directly for the 5th and 8th place.
The match for the 5th/8th place was with the host South Africa, who had just lost to the Netherlands in the quarterfinals.
Korea Republic, led by coach Yu Mun-ki, won 1-0 against South Africa in the 5th-8th place match.
For Korea, Nurim Choi scored the winning goal nine minutes after the start of the second quarter. Like many of the matches in this tournament, it was an evenly matched game where any distraction could cause the opposing team to score at any time. But this time it was Korea’s turn to score and move on to the 5th and 6th place matches at the World Cup.
The match for the 5th/6th place was finally played again with Argentina.
Korea lost to Argentina in the 5th-6th place match against Argentina on the last day of the 2022 International Hockey Federation (FIH) Women’s Junior World Cup held in Pochevstrom, South Africa.
South Korea tried to insult Argentina, who lost 0-2 in the group stage again, but failed to overcome the barrier of Argentina, the winner of the previous tournament, in 2016.
Argentina was superior and managed to break the Korean defense, advancing and scoring 10 goals, to show their world power on the field.
Korea left with its head held high, achieving one of the best positions in its history.
In the Junior World Cup, a competition for under-21 players, Korea won in 2001 and 2005, and finished third in 2009.
After being pushed out of the top 10 in two competitions after that, she managed to finish in 6th this time around.
MALAYSIA – 11TH
The National Women’s Junior World Cup squad started the Group D, FIH Women’s World Cup campaign, Potchefstroom, South Africa with a left step when they had to concede 0-10 defeat at the hands of Germany.
The tournament, which lasted until April 12, 2022, saw Germany score 9 field goals and 1 penalty corner with Aina Kresken appearing as the hat -trick scorer.
Germany opened the scoring in the sixth minute thanks to Aina Kresken’s field goal before she scored two more field goals in the 10th and 22nd minutes and a minute later it was Lilly Stoffelsma’s turn to complete the game’s lone penalty corner for the first half to close with four. goal for Akim Bouchouchi’s coaching squad.
Continuing the third quarter, Germany scored three goals in the last five minutes of the quarter starting with Jette Fleschutz’s goal in the 40th minute followed by Sara Strauss’ goal a minute later and Lilly Stoffelsma recorded her second personal goal in the 43rd minute.
Three more goals were scored by Germany in the final quarter of the match which saw the turns of Jule Bleuel (m’47), Verena Neumann (m’54) and Sophia Schwabe (m’60) also made their names as scorers.
Nasihin Nubli Ibrahim’s coaching staff will go down for the second meeting for Group D, against Wales.
It was not the starting point for Malaysia but the rival is one of the most important in the world. Looking to reverse the situation vs Wales.
In the second match of Group D, FIH Women’s Junior Hockey World Cup, Potchefstroom, South Africa agreed to share one point after being tied 3-3.
However, there was a bit of joy for the national camp when the two -goal scorer for Malaysia, Nuramirah Shakirah Zulkifli was chosen as the best player of the match. Amirah Shakirah scored in the 34th minute as a result of a penalty corner and four minutes later she scored again once through a field movement.
Earlier, Malaysia opened the scoring with a field goal from a player who first received a call for Malaysia, Elizaberth Epui Anak Martin in the 15th minute before Wales tied the score at 1-1 in the 24th minute with a goal from Isabelle Howell’s penalty corner.
Eight minutes before the end of the match, Wales, who were 1-3 trailing at the time, bounced back to get two field goals through Jessica Hill and Cerys Preston in the 52nd and 54th minutes respectively for the match to end in a 3-3 draw.
Head coach, Nasihin Nubli Ibrahim was a little disappointed when the target set for this match, which was to collect three full points, was not reached and agreed with one point shared with the Wales team.
“One point is valuable for us but I am a little disappointed because we are targeting three full points. We learn from the mistakes that happened and will continue to improve and in preparation for the players for the next action,” he explained.
Meanwhile, the two -goal scorer for the national team, Nuramirah Shakirah Zulkifli described the match as not an easy one but they tried to give 100% commitment on the field and were thankful with one point earned.
“Every opportunity I have to score a goal, I will use it to the best of my ability regardless of how open or difficult the opportunity is,” said Amirah.
Malaysia went down to complete the Group D match against India.
The national youth hockey squad had to accept a 0-4 defeat at the hands of India in the last action of Group D of the Women’s Youth World Cup in Potchefstroom, South Africa last night but it was considered a valuable experience for the whole team.
This is because their opponents are in a class of their own and have already won the group title before the meeting with Malaysia after beating Germany 2-1.
For the head coach, Nasihin Nubli Ibrahim, he praised the improvement shown by his men in the tournament apart from wanting to take the positive things learned to face the rest of the competition.
“I am happy because the players have shown improvement in one game after another. The players have worked hard and given their best but India are a very good team,” he said.
India had to wait until the 10th minute before opening the scoring through a field goal by Mumtaz Khan and a minute later, Sangita Kumari scored the second goal, also the result of a field goal.
Four minutes before the end of the first half, India added their third goal from Lalrindiki’s field movement to give Erik Wonink’s side a comfortable 3-0 lead at the end of the first half.
A minute before the actual match ended, Mumtaz scored his second personal goal and saw the match end with a 4-0 result in favor of India.
Malaysia met Uruguay in the ninth to 16th qualifying round.
In the match for the 9th-16th place match, Malaysia recorded a dramatic 2-1 victory over Uruguay in the Junior Hockey World Cup.
It was the first victory achieved by the national junior women’s hockey squad during their performance in the Women’s Junior Hockey World Cup which took place at the NWU Stadium.
In the action, Malaysia first lost one goal to Uruguay through a penalty corner from Elisa Civetta in the 35th minute.
However, the squad coached by Nasihin Nubli Ibrahim ensured that Uruguay was ‘white -eyed’ with two field goals within a minute through Siti Nur Arfah Mohd. Nor and Nuramirah Syakirah Zulkifli in the 53rd and 54th minutes.
It was sweeter for the national camp when Siti Nur Arfah was chosen as the best player of the match.
Malaysia, which made its first appearance on the stage of the Women’s Junior Hockey World Cup since it was first held in 1989, will face Ireland for the ninth to 12th place.
The efforts shown by the National Junior Women’s World Cup Squad to find a second victory in the FIH Women’s World Cup Hockey Championship campaign were unsuccessful when they had to concede 1-2 loss to Ireland in the 9th to 12th place classification match.
A penalty corner shot completed by Caoimhe Perdue seconds before the actual action of the match ended snatched the dream of the National Women’s Youth World Cup Squad to at least drag the match to the shoot-out decision.
The result also saw Malaysia go to the 11th and 12th place play-offs against Zimbabwe who previously lost 0-1 to Austria in another 9th to 12th position classification match.
Ireland had earlier managed to open the scoring in the 14th minute thanks to a goal from Rachel Kelly and the 1-0 lead remained close to the first half.
Continuing the second half, the equalizer came when the national striker, Nuramirah Shakirah Zulkifli managed to score a goal in the 47th minute also as a result of the field movement which gave hope for the match to be dragged to the shoot-out.
However, the advantage of Ireland’s 5th penalty corner in the 60th minute and completed by Caoimhe Perdue took Ireland to the 9th and 10th place play-offs against Austria.
The head coach, Nasihin Nubli Ibrahim explained that his players had given their best, including not giving an easy path for Ireland to win the match.
“The players have given their best resistance to the Irish team until the final whistle and I am proud of what my players have shown.”
“They played well and with a short preparation to meet Ireland they were able to give the best resistance to the Irish team.”
“Some of our players suffered injuries during the game and it made it a bit difficult for us to change players.
“Now we shift our focus and preparation to the next match. The players need to get up as best they can to meet Zimbabwe for the 11th and 12th place matches”, he explained.
The National Women’s Junior World Cup squad finished the FIH Women’s Junior World Cup Hockey Championship campaign, Potchefstroom, South Africa in 11th place after beating their opponents Zimbabwe, 7-2 in the 11th and 12th play-offs.
Malaysia, however, was shocked first with the opponent’s early goal in the second minute as a result of Tinodiwanashe Elijah’s field goal but the goal was immediately erased by Siti Nur Arfah Mohd Nor in the 10th minute also as a result of field movement.
Moments before the end of the first quarter, Zimbabwe came back in front with Alexi Terblanche’s field goal but the goal did not last long when two goals in a row were scored by the national team in the 22nd and 23rd minutes as a result of a penalty corner, Nur Insyirah Effarizal and stroke penalty, Nuramirah Shakirah Zulkifli for Malaysia comfortably headed to the first half break with a 3-2 advantage.
Continuing the third quarter, Malaysia continued to put pressure on Zimbabwe and widened the goal gap this time it was Nur Afiqah Syahzani Azhar’s turn to make her name as the scorer through field movements in the 39th minute and Dayang Nuramirah Abang Mahadini ensured the advantage of the penalty corner shot in the 41st minute. generate a network for the country.
National striker Nuramirah Shakirah Zulkifli scored her second personal goal of the match as a result of a field movement in the 48th minute before Khairunnisa Ayuni Mohd Shahruddin ensured Malaysia closed out the inaugural Women’s World Cup campaign with a stylish 7-2 victory after completing a penalty corner advantage on 53rd minute.
The head coach of the National Women’s Youth World Cup Squad, Nasihin Nubli Ibrahim described the experience and the highest exposure possessed by his athletes has gone well and the players have shown improvement after improvement in each match.
“Today’s match we have planned to give our best no matter what happens. The start of the players started with a bit of a mess as well as a rumble.”
“We admit Zimbabwe have a fast striker so we set up a strategy to focus on the midfield. Our second quarter started to score goal after goal.
“The effort shown by the players is very good and they give everything and follow the structure of the match that is designed well.
“The players played calmly in the second half and created some chances and scored goals.
“Thank you to the coaching staff who have helped a lot in analyzing the match and thank you to the Malaysian Hockey Confederation (KHM) for their trust in this young team,” he explained.
