Muscat (Oman), July 23 (IANS) The Indian sub-junior women’s and men’s teams continued their unbeaten runs in their respective Elite Pools at the FIH Youth Hockey5s Asian Championship 2026 in Muscat, Oman, with both scoring big wins on Thursday. The women’s team enjoyed a dominant 10-0 win over Kazakhstan while the men’s team defeated Bangladesh 8-3.
The Indian women’s team started the game strongly, with Nousheen Naz scoring two goals in the first minute itself and leading 2-0 at half-time. They upped the ante in the second half by scoring six goals to assert their dominance.
‘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 women’s team will next play China and Uzbekistan while the men’s team will take on Oman and Pakistan on July 24.
The tournament is also the Asian qualifier for the inaugural FIH Youth Hockey5s World Cup.
Earlier, the Indian men’s and women’s teams made winning starts in their respective campaigns at the FIH Youth Hockey5s Asian Championship 2026 in Muscat, Oman, on Monday.
The Indian teams are placed in the Elite Pools of the men’s and women’s competition. The Indian women’s team was the first to start its campaign on the tournament’s opening day against Kazakhstan and won 8-3. The men’s team faced Bangladesh in their opening match later and registered a 7-3 victory.
–IANS
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