Arijit Singh Handal scored four goals as India defeated Pakistan in the men’s junior hockey Asia Cup 2024 final on Wednesday, leading his side to a 5-3 final score in Muscat.
Opening the match against arch-rivals, Pakistan took an early lead just three minutes into the mega contest through captain Hanan Shahid.
However, the lead was short-lived as Handel counter-attacked and scored in the next minute and the first quarter ended at 1-1.
India completely dominated proceedings in the second quarter as the defending champions scored back-to-back goals through Dilraj Singh and Hindle in the 18th and 19th minutes respectively to take a 3-1 lead.
Pakistan hit back in the last quarter and leveled the scores at 3-3 thanks to braces from Sufyan Khan in the 30th and 39th minutes respectively.
The fourth and final quarter saw the defending champions outclass Pakistan with two goals through Hindle, which proved to be the difference in their scorelines.
Notably, both Pakistan and India entered the final after going unbeaten in the group stage and semi-finals.
It was India’s third consecutive title win in the Men’s Junior Hockey Asia Cup.
Men in Blue had defeated Pakistan in the final of the previous edition as well.