FIH Junior Hockey World Cup 2025: Coach Sreejesh says real tournament will start from quarterfinal

India Junior Men’s Hockey Team coach PR Sreejesh on Monday shared his thoughts on the recently announced pools for the upcoming FIH Hockey Men’s Junior World Cup 2025.

The 14th edition of the tournament has been expanded to include 24 teams for the first time. Initially a 12-team event, the Junior World Cup expanded to 16 teams from the 2001 edition onwards.

Commenting on India’s draw, Sreejesh said, “Our Pool B presents a good challenge, with Pakistan, Chile, and Switzerland. While I expect the match against Pakistan to be particularly interesting, the tournament will really begin from the quarterfinal stage. So, we’ll take it one game at a time and focus on collecting as many points as possible to secure a favourable quarterfinal spot.”

The top two teams from each pool will advance to the quarterfinals, which will be played in a knockout format leading to the semifinals and final.

On the expanded format, Sreejesh added, “This is the first time the Junior World Cup will feature 24 teams, and we’re planning our preparations accordingly. Playing in this new format will be very exciting.”

India finished fourth in the last edition of the tournament in 2023, narrowly missing out on a podium finish. The team’s best performances came in 2001 and 2016, when it lifted the title.

Germany, the most successful team in the competition’s history with seven titles, enters the 2025 edition as the defending champion, having won the crown in 2023.