Two-time champions India settled for the fourth position in the 13th FIH Hockey Mens Junior World Cup after going down to Spain 1-3 in the bronze-medal match at the National Hockey Stadium in Bukit Jalil, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia today.

Germany won the gold medal for the seventh time, defeating France in the final by 2-1 goals. India played the third-place playoff match after losing to Germany 1-4 in the semifinals.

Earlier in the quarterfinals, India prevailed over Netherlands 4-3. India qualified for the quarterfinals, securing second position in Pool-C league with six points from three games. They won two, beating Korea 4-2 and Canada 11-1, and lost one, against Spain 1-4.

The 18-member Indian team, featuring three players from Odisha, was led by Uttam Singh with Araijeet Singh Hundal as his deputy. The three Odisha players were: Amandeep Lakra, Sunil Jojo and Sudeep Chirmako.

INDIAN JUNIOR MEN HOCKEY TEAM: Goalkeepers: Mohith HS, Ranvijay Singh Yadav. Defenders: Shardanand Tiwari, Amandeep Lakra, Rohit, Sunil JoJo, Amir Ali. Mid-fielders: Vishnukant Singh, Poovanna CB, Rajinder Singh, Amandeep, Aditya Singh. Forwards: Uttam Singh (Captain), Aditya Lalage, Araijeet Singh Hundal (Vice-Captain), Sourabh Anand Kushwaha, Sudeep Chirmako, Boby Singh Dhami. Replacement Players: Sukhvinder, Sunit Lakra. Coach: CR Kumar.

INDIA RESULTS:

December 5: India (Araijeet Singh Hundal 11-PC, 16-FG, 41-FG, Amandeep 30-FG) beat Korea (Dohyun Lim 38-PC, Minkwon Kim 45-PC) 4-2.
December 7: India (Rohit 33-PC) lost to Spain (Pol Cabre Verdiell 1-FG, 41-PC, Andreas Rafi 18-PC, 60-PS) 1-4.
December 9: India (Aditya Arjun Lalage 8-FG, 43-FG, Rohit 12-PC, 55-FG, Amandeep Lakra 23-PC, 51-PC, Vishnukant Singh 42-FG, Rajinder Singh 42-FG, Sourabh Anand Kushwaha 51-FG, Uttam Singh 58-FG) beat Canada (Jude Nicholson 20-FG) 11-1.
December 12 (QF): India (Aditya Arjun Lalage 34-FG, Araijeet Singh Hundal 35-PS, Sourabh Anand Kushwaha 52-FG, Uttam Singh 57-PC) beat Netherlands (Timo Boers 5-PC, Pepijn Van Der Heijden 16-PC, Olivier Hortensius 44-PC) 4-3.
December 14 (SF): India (Sudeep Chirmako 11-FG) lost to Germany (Ben Hasbach 8-FG, 30-PC, Paul Clander 41-PC, Florian Sperling 58-FG) 1-4.
December 16 (3rd Place Playoff): India (Sunil Jojo 28-PC) lost to Spain (Nicolas Alvarez 25-FG, 51-FG, Pau Petchame 40-FG) 1-3.

FINAL RANKINGS: 1. Germany, 2. France, 3. Spain, 4. India, 5. Netherlands, 6. Australia, 7. Argentina, 8. Pakistan, 9. Belgium, 10. South Africa, 11. New Zealand, 12. Malaysia, 13. Korea, 14. Egypt, 15. Chile, 16. Canada.