India’s hopes of winning the FIH Men’s Junior World Cup ended as they suffered a 1-5 defeat against defending champions Germany in Sunday’s semifinal. India’s last Junior World Cup victory was in 2016 in Lucknow.Germany displayed their dominance with goals from Lukas Kossel scoring twice at 14th and 30th minutes, Titus Wex at 15th minute, Jonas von Gersum at 40th minute, and Ben Hasbach at 49th minute.India managed to score once through Anmol Ekka’s penalty-corner conversion in the 51st minute.India will now compete for bronze against Argentina on Wednesday, while Germany faces Spain in the final. Spain advanced to the final after defeating Argentina 2-1 in the first semifinal.Despite India’s positive start, Germany gradually took control of the game. In the eighth minute, Indian goalkeeper Princedeep Singh successfully blocked Ben Hasbach’s reverse hit attempt.Germany’s growing confidence led to their first penalty corner in the 13th minute. They earned a penalty stroke when their goal-mouth flick hit an Indian defender’s body, resulting in Lukas Kossel’s successful conversion. Germany strengthened their lead when Wex deflected Kossel’s cross just before the first quarter ended. The defending champions secured their second penalty corner eleven seconds before halftime, with Kossel scoring again for a 3-0 lead.India missed an opportunity to score three minutes after halftime when Sourabh Anand Kushwaha failed to capitalise on an open goal chance. Germany maintained their strong performance while India struggled to respond effectively. Despite missing two back-to-back penalty corners in the 36th minute, Germany scored again through Jonas von Gersum’s neat deflection.The German team continued their offensive pressure, earning their fourth penalty corner in the 42nd minute, which India managed to defend.Hasbach extended Germany’s lead to 5-0 with a diving goal past goalkeeper Bikramjit Singh, following an aerial ball from deep in the field.India secured consecutive penalty corners in the 51st minute, with Anmol successfully converting one through a variation play.Despite India’s late attempts to increase pressure, they couldn’t overcome the significant deficit, ending their championship aspirations.
