India may not have won the FIH Men's Hockey Junior World Cup which took place in Chennai and Madurai, but they certainly made their mark with a sensational turnaround in the bronze medal match against Argentina, where they came from 0-2 down to win 4-2 and finished third in the tournament. It is a significant achievement for the junior players, who will now have to push their respective cases to be called up to Craig Fulton's senior set-up.
Here's an overall picture of the team's performance at the World Cup. There are a few positives but also some learnings for the players and team management, led by head coach PR Sreejesh.
What has been the most impressive feature of this team?
The mentality.
The juniors, for obvious reasons, do not have a lot of experience of playing big matches in packed stadia. Things got tricky when India faced their first big test, against Belgium in the quarterfinals. They went down to an early goal in the first quarter and then the Belgians frustrated the hosts with their impeccable defence. Despite having more of the ball, India struggled to create clear cut chances.
It could've been the story of the match, but this Indian team kept up their relentlessness. Finally, the equaliser came from Rohit, their captain, in the 45th minute via a penalty corner and then another goal three minutes later thanks to Sharda Nand Tiwari's dragflick. Although Belgium themselves equalised to take the match to penalties, it was India who came up on top with a 4-3 win in the shootout.
The same fighting mentality was seen in the third-place playoff where India were down 0-2 going into the last quarter but their intensity and high work-rate resulted in four goals as Argentina succumbed under pressure.
It is something which certainly rubbed off from their head coach. PR Sreejesh was part of national teams who were known for their relentless action and tough mentality. Be it at the Tokyo Olympics or later in Paris, the biggest hallmark of those teams was how they responded when things got tough, a trait that saw them win back-to-back bronze medals.
After two semifinal losses in the previous two editions of Junior World Cups, this bunch of Indian players have gone a step ahead to win a medal. Instead of crumbling down when frustration reigned supreme, these players kept pushing and forced the situation to change. This aspect will no doubt benefit their careers in the future.
Where did the team falter?
The mentality of the team stood out but these players were completely outplayed in the semifinal against Germany. Not once did they look like a team capable of beating the now eight-time champions, conceding five goals while barely creating chances of their own.
There's no doubt that Germany, who won the World Cup again and Spain, the finallists, were superior in terms of playing attacking hockey. Germany, especially, had a clear vision of how to play and executed their attacking patterns to success. They were quick in thinking, the players knew where to be on the pitch when the team attacked or defended, and once they penetrated the circle, they knew how to find space and take shots. This is why Europe is so ahead in the sport. Even the junior players looked like they have been playing together for decades.
India largely struggled to execute their attacking game plan against the likes of Belgium and Germany. Post the group stage, they failed to score a single field goal in three matches and depended on penalty corners to find their way in.
This points to a systematic problem since this is something which can be associated with the men's senior team as well. Despite being good on the ball and playing with speed and intensity, they don't score as many field goals as compared to their European counterparts. When penalty corners go missing, like it happened against Germany, India struggle big time.
Who can quickly make it to the senior team?
The question is of course different from naming just the best performing players from the Indian team. The likes of Manmeet Singh, Arshdeep Singh, Sharda Nand Tiwari, Rohit, Dilraj Singh and Priyobarta Talem have all impressed but at the moment, there's just one strong contender: Princedeep Singh, a standout as the #1 goalkeeper.
His heroics were apparent in the shootout win over the Belgians and in the bronze medal match against Argentina. Once again, under pressure, he pulled off good saves but it's not only about his shot-stopping abilities. The way he reads the game, senses danger and charges down to close the angles for the attackers makes him look the complete package at this age, and senior team head coach Craig Fulton would've certainly taken notice.
Prince saves the day like a King! #Risingstars
Some super saves from Prince Deep Singh see India through to the semis.
�� Stream all the matches from the FIH Hockey Men's Junior World Cup Tamil Nadu 2025 Live on https://t.co/71D0pOq2OG.#Hockey pic.twitter.com/hTg0CfR9mY
- International Hockey Federation (@FIH_Hockey) December 5, 2025
Senior goalkeeper Krishan Pathak's form had taken a hit this year and although others like Suraj Karkera, Mohith HS, Pawan Malik are ahead in the pecking order, Princedeep has to at least start training with the senior squad ahead of a busy 2026 which will include the World Cup and the Asian Games.
What about Sreejesh as a head coach?
For elite international players, the jump to coaching doesn't always lead to success but Sreejesh can now show the bronze medal as his first big achievement in his new job. The good thing is that Sreejesh played to his players' strengths, using their speed and fitness to build attacks. Also, there were as many as three good dragflickers in the team -- Rohit, Sharda Nand and Anmol Ekka -- and all of them contributed with penalty corner goals. When the penalty corners were not going in, like in the match against Argentina, Sreejesh told them to go for variations and the players responded and executed them to perfection.
Post the Argentina win, Sreejesh said he will continue to be with the junior team. His task will now be about selecting a fresh set of players, and going a step further in the future World Cup.