FIH Junior Men’s Hockey – Bangladesh downs Austria, wins Challenger Trophy

Bangladesh secured the Challenger Trophy at the FIH Junior Men’s World Cup 2025 after a 5-4 win over Austria at the Madurai International Hockey Stadium here on Monday. A hat-trick from tournament top-scorer Amirul Islam, and goals from Hozifa Hossain and Rakibul Hasan helped the side finish 17th in the final rankings.

Amirul, the designated drag-flicker, opened the scoring with his second penalty corner to give his side the lead in the 15th minute. Bangladesh opted to use Hozifa in the second battery on the following penalty corner, a move which hoodwinked the Austrians.

Austria had more misery in store after the half-time break. Rakibul charged towards the static ball after a delayed hit out and let out a fierce backhander past goalkeeper Lorenz Breitenecker. The referee pointed both hands towards the centre, signalling a goal, much to the dismay of the defenders who were caught out.

Andor Losonci pulled one back for Austria with a smart turn-and-finish after the rebound off the goalkeeper fell straight into his path. Amirul converted two penalty strokes, either side of Benjamin Kelner stroking in a penalty corner variation, to complete his treble. Julian Kaiser’s penalty corner conversion four minutes from the end and a penalty stroke from captain Mateusz Nyckowiak reduced the deficit to one, but the Bangladesh players held on, getting their hands on the newly-instated piece of silverware.

South Korea staved off a late comeback from China to finish 19th, while victories for Egypt and Namibia helped them finish 21st and 23rd, respectively, in the final rankings.

The results:

For 23rd place: Namibia 4 (Josh van der Merwe 19, Gerhard Myburgh 22, John-Paul Britz 55-pc, Ludwig van Rooyen 60) bt Oman 2 (Maitham Al Wahaibi 14-ps, Alhussin Al Hasni 48-pc).

For 21st place: Egypt 2 (Basel Abdelmonem 3-ps & 38) drew with Canada 2 (Robin Thind 43-ps & 45-ps); Egypt won 3-2 via shootout.

For 19th place: South Korea 5 (Minhyeok Lee 1-pc & 13-pc, Jaewon Park 20, Donggeon Kim 73-pc, Gyeonghu Lee 48) bt China 4 (Pengfei Li 34, 38-pc & 60, Yanwei Di 56).

For 17th place: Bangladesh 5 (Amirul Islam 15-pc, 50-ps & 52-ps, Hozifa Hossain 27-pc, Rakibul Hasan 35) bt Austria 4 (Andor Losonci 44, Benjamin Kelner 51-pc, Julian Kaiser 57-pc, Mateusz Nyckowiak 59-ps).