Men's FIH Junior World Cup 2023 Quarterfinals: India Beat Netherlands In Superb Come-From-Behind Win To Book Semi-Finals Berth

India's junior men's hockey team pulled off a brilliant win over Netherlands in the quarterfinals of the Men's FIH Junior World Cup 2023 to book a place in the semifinals on Tuesday in Kuala Lumpur. After being 0-2 down only in the 16th minute of the match, the Men in Blue made a superb comeback to win the game with a margin of 4-3. This superb win has impressed the fans on social media who cannot stop talking about the epic comeback. 

Netherlands started the match with an attacking mindset as the Indian defence was found out. Timo Boers converted the Penalty Corner in the fifth minute. Ten minutes later, Pepihn van de Heijden score another goal in PC. It seemed there was no stopping today for the Dutch but everything changed after the half-time. 

At the half-way stage, India were trailing 0-2. But things began to change. Aditya Lalage scored a field goal in the 34th minute of the match. India now needed one more goal to equalise. They got a penalty stroke and and Araijeet Singh Hundal made no mistake and converted it. It was soon 2-2 and India were back in it.

At the fag end of the third quarter, a goal came in form a PC conversion from Olivier Hortensius. Netherlands went ahead by 1 goal again as pendulum shifted towards the Netherlands. But with the way Indians were playing, one knew that the scorecard would soon change. 

It changed again in the 52nd minute with Sourabh Kushwaha scoring on the rebound as scores were level again. With just three minutes on the clock, India got another PC and this time Uttam Singh did not make any mistake and scored the winner.

Not to forget, India defended 4 PCs successfully in the last one minute. With a scoreline of 4-3, India booked their place in the semis. They play Europe powerhouse Germany in semis on December 14.

The social media was abuzz with a lot of reactions on India's triumph in the Junior hockey World Cup. Take a look at some of the reactions below.

Historic SF entry for India, beat Netherlands 4-3, after trailing 0-2 in Q1. It survived 4 PCs in the last min too. Deserving win for India, and captain Uttam and coach CR Kumar. Congrats pic.twitter.com/ReSIXWreh9

— stick2hockey.com (@indianhockey) December 12, 2023

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Here are the Numbers You Need To Know _#IPLAuction | #IPL pic.twitter.com/WmLJMl3Ybs — IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) December 11, 2023

Player of the match Rohit takes us through the historic comeback and talks about the team spirit in attaining this historic victory.#HockeyIndia #IndiaKaGame #RisingStars #JWCMalaysia2023 pic.twitter.com/mB5UMUeUTB — Hockey India (@TheHockeyIndia) December 12, 2023

FT: India 4-3 Netherlands

Great comeback by India as they beat Netherlands to qualify for the semi-final of Junior Hockey World Cup. The Men in Blue were down 2-0 at half-time ___#JWCMalaysia2023 #HockeyIndia pic.twitter.com/mBjPlPw4T5 — Muneeb Farrukh (@Muneeb313_) December 12, 2023

FIH Hockey Men's Junior World Cup 2023 _

_ Quarterfinals _

__ India 3__ - 3__ Netherlands __

India level up the score AGAIN ___..!! #HockeyIndia | #RisingStars | #JWC2023 pic.twitter.com/V0apeQPT2P

— The Khel India (@TheKhelIndia) December 12, 2023

FIH Hockey Men's Junior World Cup 2023 _

_ Quarterfinals _

__ India 3__ - 3__ Netherlands __

India level up the score AGAIN ___..!! #HockeyIndia | #RisingStars | #JWC2023 pic.twitter.com/V0apeQPT2P— The Khel India (@TheKhelIndia) December 12, 2023

In the second semi-final, either France or Australia will meet Spain or Pakistan. These teams play their quarter-finals match on Tuesday. If Pakistan win their next two knockout matches and India wins the semis, then we will have an epic India vs Pakistan encounter in the final of the junior Hockey World Cup.