Jamshedpur/Muscat, July 29: India produced a dominant performance to defeat arch-rivals Pakistan 3-1 in the final of the Men’s Youth Hockey 5s Asian Championship in Muscat, Oman, clinching the gold medal and securing qualification for the inaugural FIH Youth Hockey 5s World Cup.
The Indian team remained unbeaten throughout the tournament, finishing atop the Elite Pool standings before capping its impressive campaign with a convincing victory in the summit clash.
Jamshedpur’s Ashish Tani Purti and Abhijeet Hazra played significant roles in India’s title-winning run. Ashish, a cadet of the Naval Tata Hockey Academy (NTHA), Jamshedpur, impressed on the field, while Abhijeet, who served as the team’s video analyst, provided crucial tactical support from the sidelines. Abhijeet is associated with the Odisha Naval Tata Hockey High-Performance Centre.
Both are part of the Hockey Ace Foundation (HAF), a joint initiative of Tata Steel and Tata Trusts, which focuses on nurturing young hockey talent through world-class coaching and high-performance infrastructure.
The latest triumph marks the second international gold medal for Ashish Tani Purti, who had also won the Asia Cup in Japan last month. Abhijeet Hazra has built an impressive record as a video analyst, having previously contributed to the Indian men’s team’s gold medal-winning campaign in Japan as well as the Indian women’s team’s bronze medal finish.
Congratulating the duo, Hockey Ace Foundation Project Director Gurmeet Singh Rao said the achievement reflected the strength of the Foundation’s high-performance ecosystem.
“This victory demonstrates the depth of talent and expertise nurtured under our high-performance initiatives. Ashish’s development on the field and Abhijeet’s critical tactical insight off the field speak to the high standards the Foundation continually strives for. This joint success of NTHA Jamshedpur and Odisha Naval Tata Hockey HPC further strengthens our mission of providing players with modern infrastructure and excellent tactical support to compete globally,” Rao said.
The victory adds another milestone to India’s growing success in youth hockey while underlining the contribution of Jamshedpur’s talent and the Hockey Ace Foundation’s player development programme on the international stage.
