Pakistan outplayed as Japan win Men’s U18 Asia Cup hockey final

Japan secured the Men's Under-18 Asia Cup 2025 title after defeating Pakistan 3-0 in the grand finale at the National Hockey Training Centre in China's Dazhou on Sunday.

Pakistan, which finished as the tournament runner-up, began the final with high intensity, as both teams aggressively sought to gain the upper hand. The Green Shirts immediately pressed forward in the first quarter, challenging the Japanese defence in pursuit of an early goal.

Despite the aggressive starts from both sides, the opening quarter concluded without any goals.

The deadlock was broken in the second quarter, when Japan capitalised on a key opportunity in the seventh minute when Yuma Fujiwara scored the opening goal, giving his side a crucial 1-0 advantage and putting Pakistan under pressure.

After 30 minutes of play, Japan led 1-0, while Pakistan looked for an equaliser to ease the pressure in the third quarter.

The third quarter of the game saw Pakistan get a chance to equalise with a penalty corner in the first minute, but they missed the opportunity due to a brilliant save by the goalkeeper.

Moments later, they earned another penalty corner but failed to convert once again, missing back-to-back chances to level the score.

With just a few minutes remaining, Japan struck another goal through Ryutaro Ueda to take the score to 2-0, piling pressure on Pakistan.

The Green Shirts received their third penalty corner but missed it yet again.

With five seconds remaining, Pakistan earned their fourth penalty corner, but once again, they failed to score.

At the end of the third quarter, Japan leads 2-0, with Pakistan under a lot of pressure as they look for crucial goals to turn the game around in the final 15 minutes.

Japan registered yet another goal to extend their lead to 3-0 in the final minutes of the game, with Tatsuaki Yasui scoring via a penalty corner, putting the Green Shirts under pressure.

Earlier in the tournament, Pakistan showcased impressive form. They began their campaign with a resounding 8-0 win over Hong Kong, followed by a crushing 9-0 victory against Sri Lanka.

In their third match, they defeated Bangladesh 6-3, virtually securing a place in the semifinals.

In the quarterfinals, Pakistan outclassed China 2-1 in a commanding performance to book their spot among the final four.

Pakistan continued their remarkable run in the tournament, securing a nail-biting 4-3 victory over Malaysia in a dramatic semifinal decided by a penalty shootout.

The high-stakes clash had ended 3-3 in regular time, pushing the contest into a tense shootout.

Squad:

Mohammad Usman, Atif Ali, Asam Junaid, Mohammad Abdullah Farooq, Abdullah Awan, Zubair Lateef, Mohammad Yaseen, Mohammad Ali Taj, Ghulam Mustafa, Ali Hamza, Ali Hanzala, Aamir Sohail, Adeel Afzal, Mohammad Zaman, Mohammad Hussain, Mohammad Shaheer, Hasan Shahbaz, Yaseen Jamshaid

Team Management:

Shafqat Malik (Manager), Mukhtar Ahmed, Touseeq Ahmed, Masood-ur-Rahman (Coaches)