Challenger Trophy ignites classification rounds of Hockey Men’s Junior World Cup

Disappointed to not be among the quarterfinalists, England began their classification-round (9^thto 16^thplace) journey with a 3-1 win over Chile at the Mayor Radhakrishnan Hockey Stadium in Chennai.

The English team got themselves into a comfortable position by the 19^thminute, scoring two goals — produced by Kaden Draysey and Max Anderson. The second quarter witnessed two more goals, with Chile cutting England’s lead to 2-1 when Javier Vargas got on the scoresheet in the 23^rdminute. But Jonny Sturch-Hibbitt’s goal four minutes later restored England’s two-goal advantage at 3-1.

The last two quarters saw some shoddy finishing, especially by England, leaving the second half of the match devoid of any goals.

“It was a good (game). We needed to come out with good energy and the boys did well to getover the line. Looking forward to the next game and we’ll try to win every game from here,” said England’s Cole Pidcock. Looking back at the pool stage, he added, “We had a first game against Holland, probably one of the better teams here. We played really well; in fact, I think we played well the entire tournament.”

Korea vs Egypt (Full-Time Score: 6-3)

After struggling to hit their stride in the pool stage, Korea defeated Egypt 6-3 in Madurai on Thursday.

Minhyeok Lee stole the thunder with four goals – three off penalty corners and one off a penalty stroke. Korea led 3-1 at half-time. After Egypt scored the first goal of the match in the 8^thminute through Basel Abdelmonem on a penalty corner, the Koreans levelled it up with Lee’s first goal in the 18^thminute. Soon after in the second quarter, JeongSeob Song and Seowon Park also found the mark to make it 3-1.

Lee increased that lead to 4-1 just two minutes into the third quarter but Egypt and Abdelmonem’s second goal pulled it back. In the final quarter, Lee scored his third and fourth goal in the 50^thand 52^ndminute to place Korea comfortably ahead at 6-2. Egypt did score their third goal through Mohamed Ghanem, but it only came in the final minute of the match.

Speaking after the match, Korea’s captain Seunghan Son said, “I think we had a good start and did well to lead 3-1 at half-time. Then we scored three more goals and had a good time.”

South Africa vs Malaysia (Full-Time Score: 3-1)

Jaydon Brooker’s brace led South Africa’s fighting 3-1 win over Malaysia, after the match in Chennai opened with a goalless first quarter.

Brooker ended the stalemate in the 18^thminute off a penalty corner to take South Africa to half-time leading narrowly at 1-0. Nine minutes into the third quarter, he converted another PC to put his side ahead 2-0.

Malaysia fought back in the third quarter, when a 48^th-minute goal by Aqil Mat reduced South Africa’s lead to 2-1. But the game was put to bed by Ross Montgomery who got the South Africans their third goal on a penalty corner with just over two minutes left on the clock.

“It’s a wonderful feeling to win, obviously. We couldn’t qualify for the top eight, but I think we are a team that could be there and should be there,” said South Africa’s Ozair Pillai. “We told ourselves that this was our quarter-final. So we are still taking it very seriously. Malaysia is a top side; (they do) a lot of running, a lot of counter-attacking. We take this (classification rounds) as the ‘plate’ section, the start of a new tournament, knockout hockey as they say. Hopefully, we can take it (Challenger Trophy) home.”

China vs Canada (Full-Time Score: 3-2)

China registered a brilliant rally to overcome a two-goal deficit and beat Canada 3-2 in Madurai on Thursday, with Wang Yubo’s double strike leading the fightback and eventual victory.

Just when it looked like Robin Thind’s 8^thand 16^th-minute goals had put Canada on the way to their first win of the tournament, Yubo’s penalty-corner skills first reduced the margin in the 25^thminute and then brought China level at 2-2 late in the match in the 56^thminute.

With the Canadian defence switched off at the end of the game, possibly in expectation of a shoot-out, China’s Ning Dongjun found the winning goal in the 60th minute to steal victory.

“Thanks to our team’s coordination that helped us win the game,” said Player-of-the-Match Yubo, as translated by a Chinese team official.

Switzerland vs Ireland(Full-Time Score: 2-5)

The Irish team came up with a spirited show on the first day of the classification rounds to beat Switzerland 5-2 at Chennai’s Mayor Radhakrishnan Hockey Stadium.

Gregory Williams featured at the top of the list of goal scorers for Ireland after the match looked evenly poised at 1-1 at half-time – thanks to Samuel Dale putting Ireland ahead in the 25^thminute and Louis Thijs equalising for the Swiss in the 30^thminute following a goal-less first quarter.

Three penalty-corner strikes in the third quarter – two by Williams and one by Rex Dunlop – gave Ireland a comfortable 4-1 lead at the end of third quarter. Switzerland gave themselves a chance when Jens Fluck made it 4-2 with still 10 minutes remaining in the match. However, Ireland sealed victory at 5-2 with a 60^th-minute goal off a penalty corner from Louis Rowe.

“It feels great to put in a good performance and score five goals, but we need to be more clinical. We were leading 1-0 and then we let Switzerland back into the game. So just need to be more clinical and ruthless,” said Ireland’s James Clark. “We decided to take this as the second half of the tournament (after failing to qualify for the quarter-finals) and we are aiming for gold in this one.”

Australiavs Japan(Full-Time Score: 1-0)

Australia, playing for the 9^thto 16^thposition after failing to reach the last-eight stage, were put through a stiff test by dogged Japan before hanging onto Ian Grobbelaar’s goal, which turned out to be the winning goal in the 1-0 Aussie victory in Chennai.

In a game that turned into a who-blinks-first match, Australia and Japan failed to convert the chances they created, and Grobbelaar’s 56-minute penalty-corner goal proved to be the difference.