Bangladesh’s outstanding campaign at their debut FIH Hockey Men’s Junior World Cup came to an end on Monday with Siegfried Aikman’s charges lifting the Challenger Trophy after securing their third straight win.
The thrilling 5-4 victory over Austria in Tamil Nadu, India ensured Bangladesh finished at the top of the 17th–24th classification phase, winning all three matches in style.
After valiant displays in the group stage — despite defeats against stronger opponents Australia (5-3) and reigning runners-up France (3-2), and a hard-fought 3-3 draw against South Korea — Bangladesh looked hungrier than ever, beating Oman (13-0), South Korea (5-3) and finally Austria to claim 17th place.
“It means a lot to the boys,” said Bangladesh head coach Aikman after Monday’s win.
“Today we were too tense because of what was at stake and didn’t play a good match. That’s actually something good, because we need to learn to play the finals as well,” he added.
Bangladesh’s improvement throughout the tournament was evident. They drew against Korea in the group stage after coming back from 3-0 down, before defeating the higher-ranked Asian side in their next meeting during the classification round.
Austria’s senior team are also ranked above Bangladesh in the latest FIH standings, but keeping Bangladesh’s performance and form in mind, Aikman insisted his team were no less.
“This time we were not the underdogs… For us it’s a very good learning curve,” he said.
Bangladesh did not leave empty-handed. With Amirul Islam set to finish as the tournament’s top scorer with 18 goals in six matches — including five hat-tricks — Aikman’s side also clinched the historic Challenger Trophy, a new initiative introduced by the FIH to inspire rising teams.
“I am happy with this trophy. For us, this is massive,” said the Bangladesh coach.
The junior boys in red and green will return home on Thursday, a day after the medal ceremony.
