Sultan of Johor Cup: India’s junior hockey team pips Malaysia to storm into final

The Indian junior men’s hockey team stormed into the final of the ongoing Sultan of Johor Cup 2025 after edging past Malaysia 2-1 in their final pool-stage match in Johor, Malaysia on Friday. In the title clash, the PR Sreejesh-coached side will be up against Australia on Saturday.

In their final pool-stage outing, India opened the scoring through Gurjot Singh (22’), while Sourabh Anand Kushwaha (48’) scored the winner. For Malaysia Naaveenesh Panicker (43’) found the back of the net.

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With one eye on qualification for the final, the Indians started out on the front foot, attacking in waves that put the home side under pressure. Malaysia however, retaliated with a few smart moves but India’s defence held tight as neither side could break the deadlock by the end of the first quarter, with the teams going into the breather locked at 0-0.

Malaysia got the first attack of the second quarter after India roared back with a flurry of attacks, and hit the crossbar as well. Malaysia were pinned back in their half and the pressure eventually paid off, as Gurjot (22’) found the back of the net from a rebound off a Penalty Corner. From then, there was no looking back for the visitor, who held most of the possession even as the hosts continued to play catch-up. India went into half-time with a 1-0 lead.

After the break, India came out of the blocks at good speed, but Malaysia started to fight back. Even though India controlled the tempo of the game for the major part of the quarter, Malaysia’s efforts did turn the game on its head, as they found the equaliser. With a little over two minutes to go, Naaveenesh (43’) scored, to make it 1-1 and set up a thrilling final quarter.

Both sides began the final quarter with a lot of enthusiasm before India got their noses out in front again, as Sourabh (48’) tapped it home from close range, giving his team a 2-1 lead. After that, the Malaysians threw the kitchen sink as they went in search of an equaliser. And even though there were a couple of good attacks for Malaysia, India, who have traditionally dominated the hosts in this competition, held on to win the contest 2-1.