Indian men beat Pakistan 7-3 and Oman 10-1; women bounce back with win over Uzbekistan

The Indian Sub-Junior men’s team enjoyed a triumphant Friday at the FIH Youth Hockey5s Asian Championship 2026 in Muscat, defeating arch-rivals Pakistan 7-3 after thrashing host nation Oman 10-1 earlier in the day. Meanwhile, the Indian Sub-Junior Women’s Team registered a massive 10-0 victory over Uzbekistan after suffering a 3-6 defeat against China in their Elite Pool matches.

In the marquee match of the day, the Indian men produced a high-energy performance to beat Pakistan 7-3. India took early control of the game and led 3-0 at half-time thanks to goals from Romit Pal (8′), Karan Gautam (10′), and captain Ketan Kushwaha (10′).

Indian men will take on arch-rivals Pakistan in the final on Saturday (July 25). Pics: AHF

India maintained their attacking momentum in the second half with Prahalad Rajbhar (12′) extending the lead to 4-0. While Pakistan attempted a comeback with goals from Muhammad Usman (12′, 15′) and captain Adeel (17′), strikes from Shahrukh Ali (16′), Rahul Yadav (18′), and Kushwaha (20′) sealed a comfortable win for India.

Earlier in the day, the men put on a scoring masterclass against hosts Oman, securing a 10-1 victory. India stormed to a 6-0 lead at half-time, powered by two goals each from Shahrukh Ali (3′, 10′) and Ketan Kushwaha (6′, 8′), alongside strikes from Karan Gautam (2′) and Prahalad Rajbhar (3′). India added four more goals in the second half, with Kushwaha (11′, 19′) completing a four-goal haul, while Gautam (15′) and Rajbhar (16′) netted their second goals of the match. Oman scored a late consolation goal through Khazraj Subait Subait Al-Mashrafi (20′).

Indian women thrash Uzbekistan 10-0

In the women’s section, India bounced back in style after going down 3-6 against China to overpower Uzbekistan 10-0.

Against China, India fought hard in an entertaining contest against China that stood tied at 3-3 at half-time.

Sandeepa Kumari (1′) gave India an early lead while Kiran Ekka (3′, 6′) scored a brace, matching China’s first-half strikes from Guo Jiaxin (2′), Ge Chen (3′), and Lu Tongtong (10′).

China pulled ahead in the second half as Guo Jiaxin (13′, 20′) completed her hat-trick and Lu Tongtong (20′) added her second goal of the match to secure the win for China.

Indian women bounce back after 3-6 loss to China. They defeated Uzbekistan 10-0 to enter the semifinals

In their second match against Uzbekistan, the Indian women dominated from the opening whistle, racing to a 7-0 lead at half-time. Nousheen Naz (3′, 7′, 17′) led the scoring with a brilliant hat-trick, while Sandeepa Kumari (7′, 13′) scored a brace. Shruti Kumari (1′), Kiran Ekka (3′), Sweety Kujur (4′), Nilam Topno (6′), and Diya (12′) also added a goal each to complete a dominant 10-0 win.

With the pool stages concluded, the Indian men will take on arch-rivals Pakistan in the final on Saturday (July 25). Meanwhile, the Indian women will clash against Kazakhstan in semifinal 2 on the same day for a place in the summit clash.

Indian teams maintain unbeaten run

Earlier, the Indian teams continued their unbeaten runs in their respective Elite Pool with big wins. The women’s team enjoyed a dominant 10-0 win over Kazakhstan while the men’s team defeated Bangladesh 8-3.

The Indian women started the game strongly, with Nousheen Naz scoring two goals in the first minute itself and led 2-0 at half-time. They upped the ante in the second half by scoring six goals to assert their dominance.

Sandeepa Kumari scored a hat-trick against Kazakhstan

Player of the match Sandeepa Kumari (11′, 16′, 18′) scored a hat-trick while Nousheen went a step further to complete her four-goal haul (1′, 1′, 15′, 20′). Kiran Ekka (15′), Nilam Topno (17′) and Pushpa Manjhi (19′) completed the rout.

For the men’s team, the first-half of their match against Bangladesh saw a closely contested encounter as the scoreline read 3-2 in India’s favour, thanks to goals from captain and ‘Player of the match’ Ketan Kushwaha (4′, 8′) and Shahrukh Ali (3′). Goals from Md Hosen (6′) and Sohorab Soton (8′) kept Bangladesh close on India’s heels.

India built on the scoreline in the second half with two more goals from Kushwaha (12′, 15′) and one each from Romit Pal (13′), Prahalad Rajbhar (14′) and Rahul Yadav (18′). Bangladesh could score just one more goal as Soton (11′) completed his brace.

The tournament is also the Asian qualifier for the inaugural FIH Youth Hockey5s World Cup.