Junior Asia Cup Final: India lifted their 4th title after defeating Pakistan by 2-1

India defeated Pakistan in the Men's Junior Asia Cup Final 2023 by 2-1 on Thursday at the Sultan Qaboos Youth Complex Stadium in Salalah, Oman. India lifted their fourth title after this thrilling victory against the arch-rivals, Pakistan. With this title win, India became the most successful country in the history of the Men's Junior Asia Cup.

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Junior Asia Cup Final: India 2-1 Pakistan

Angad Bir Singh gave the lead to India in the 13th minute of the game. Araijeet Hundal Singh doubled up the lead after scoring in the 20th minute of the game. Pakistan's Ali Basharat scored in the 38th minute to provide his team a lifeline. Pakistan kept on threatening India's defence but couldn't score more than one goal. India were successful in holding on to their slender lead and preventing Pakistan from scoring more than their single goal. The Indian team had previously won the title in 2004, 2008, and 2015 while Pakistan won the tournament in 1988, 1992, and 1996.

The next big target from here, of course, is the Junior Hockey World Cup. India were disappointing at the home edition last time around. India had already qualified for the FIH Junior Hockey Men's World Cup 2023, which is scheduled to be held from December 5 to 16, 2023 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The top three teams from the Men's Junior Asia Cup 2023 were set to qualify for the Junior World Cup, however, with Malaysia receiving a direct entry as the host nation, the other three Semi-Finalists of the Men's Junior Asia Cup had also qualified (Korea, Pakistan being the other two)