India sweep men’s and women’s Junior Asia Cup titles

By Asia Samachar  | Hockey |

MOQI, China: India reaffirmed their dominance of Asian junior hockey by winning both the men’s and women’s Junior Asia Cup titles, completing a memorable double at the Moqi Training Base in China.

The men retained their crown with a commanding 4-1 victory over South Korea in the final, securing a record sixth continental title. Captain Anmol Ekka, who scored once in the final, finished as the tournament’s leading scorer with 17 goals after a prolific campaign.

India’s men had earlier overcome Malaysia 3-1 in the semi-finals, while South Korea reached their first Junior Asia Cup final since 2008 after defeating Pakistan 4-1.

In the gold-medal match, Ajeet Yadav gave India the lead in the ninth minute before the advantage was doubled four minutes later. Prabhdeep Singh stretched the lead to 3-0 in the 21st minute before Ashu Maurya added a fourth in the final quarter.

South Korea pulled one back through captain Lee Minhyeok from a penalty stroke six minutes from time, but India were already firmly in control.
The victory added the 2026 title to India’s previous men’s triumphs in 2004, 2008, 2015, 2023 and 2024.

Pakistan bounced back from their semi-final defeat to beat Malaysia 4-2 in the bronze-medal playoff, while Japan finished fifth after defeating hosts China 3-1.

India’s women, meanwhile, completed their own successful title defence with a hard-fought 1-0 victory over hosts China in the final.

Sanika Chandrakant Mane scored the decisive goal in the 17th minute as India held firm against sustained pressure from the home side to claim a third consecutive Junior Women’s Asia Cup crown.

The champions had reached the final after an emphatic 5-1 semi-final victory over South Korea, while China booked their place in the title match by sweeping aside Japan 6-0.
Japan recovered to defeat South Korea 2-0 in the third-place playoff.

The tournaments also determined Asia’s qualifiers for the 2027 FIH Junior Hockey World Cups. India, South Korea, Pakistan, Malaysia, Japan and China qualified from the men’s competition, while India, China, Japan and South Korea secured the four women’s berths.

India’s double success underlined the continuing strength of its junior hockey programme, with both teams successfully defending their continental crowns and emerging as Asia’s leading representatives heading towards the 2027 world championships.

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