In the semifinals, India will take on Germany, while Argentina and Spain will decide the second finalist. / International Hockey federation

It was hockey at its best. Two of the four quarterfinals were stretched to the shootout, with the hosts, India, edging out Belgium 4-3 and defending champions Germany getting past France 3-1 after both games had ended in 2-2 deadlocks.

Argentina defeated the Netherlands by a solitary goal, while Spain held its nerves to defeat New Zealand 4-3 in the other quarterfinals.

The quarterfinals provided the contrast. While the pool matches witnessed several one-sided games with winning sides recording double-figure wins, here in the quarterfinals, the margin of victory was by a single goal in the regulation period and only in the case of the Germany-France match did a penalty shootout end with a difference of two goals.

In the semifinals, India will take on Germany, while Argentina and Spain will decide the second finalist.

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The quarterfinals came as a big heartbreak for both Belgium and the Netherlands, as they will have to wait for their first FIH Hockey World Cup for the junior men’s title.

A vociferous crowd at Mayor Radhakrishnan Hockey Stadium could not have asked for more on a Friday, as it was entertained by dramatic finishes in the most-awaited pre-medal round matches of the day, which culminated with edge-of-the-seat shootout victories for both India and Germany after their pulsating games against Belgium and France finished at 2-2 in the regulation periods.

The quarterfinals round ended with the result that the home crowd wanted — India won the shootout 4-3, thanks to star performances by goalkeeper Prince Deep Singh and deep defender Sharda Nand Tiwari.

The high-voltage encounter began with Belgium scoring in the 13th minute through Gaspard Cornez-Massant and then putting up a defensive masterclass to deny India until the last minute of the third quarter. India’s relentless attack earned a penalty corner in the 45th minute, and skipper Rohit stepped up to flick the ball into the Belgian goal, which made it 1-1.

Tiwari scored off another penalty corner in the 48th minute to give India the lead, which it almost defended till the end. But a 59th-minute strike by Nathan Rogge pushed the game into a shootout.

The drama continued in the one-on-one situations, where Belgian goalkeeper Alexis van Havere was fouled for bringing Indian strikers down on three occasions, resulting in penalty strokes for the home team. Tiwari converted from the spot on each of those occasions before Ankit Pal scored the winning goal, which was unsuccessfully challenged by the Belgians.

On the other hand, Prince Deep stood tall in the Indian post to deny Rogge and Nicolas Bogaerts, which proved to be the difference in the end. Hugo Labouchere, Guerlain Hawaux, and Charles Langendries were the Belgian scorers in the shootout.

“I thank the crowd for their support, as their noise raised our confidence,” said India’s goalkeeper and Player of the Match Prince Deep. “There was pressure, but I have to make saves whether it is the last minute or not. I have learned everything from chief coach and goalkeeping legend PR Sreejesh. It has raised my confidence. This tournament has given me a chance to showcase my skills. We will try to repeat our winning performance in the semis and clinch the trophy.”

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The semifinals line-up is Argentina vs. Spain and India vs. Germany.

In a thrilling finish that is not for the faint-hearted, the first quarterfinal turned out to be a heavyweight boxing bout that went to the last round, with both Spain and New Zealand refusing to be knocked out.

In a rare finish, the crowd in Chennai saw the equalizer as well as the winning goal in the final minute of play. But while the Spaniards broke into celebrations after Bruno Avila converted a penalty corner to signal his team’s 4-3 win, the Black Sticks had their heads in their hands, having equalized a few seconds before through Sam Lints’s second goal.

Spain began the first match of the last-eight stage like a bullet train, racing to a 3-0 lead in the first 12 minutes — thanks to Nicolas Mustaros, Josep Martin, and Albert Serrahima’s field goals. New Zealand looked down for the count but was lifted by Lints’s first goal of the match in the 22nd minute, which kept the Black Sticks in it at 3-1 at halftime.

Ryan Parr reduced the Spanish lead further when his 34th-minute penalty-corner conversion brought the Black Sticks within one goal of making things even. Spain fortified its backline thereafter, as the next 25 minutes saw both teams standing tall in defense.

The climax turned out to be a classic one with Lints’s equalizer in the 60th minute, but Avila made it a happy one for Spain, striking just before the final hooter to clinch the humdinger 4-3 for a place in the semifinals.

“We have qualified and feel so happy. It was a very hard match. In the first half, we were so good and dominated the match. In the second half, it was a little harder with the cards and with goals by them. We just defended and defended before finally winning the match with a goal in the last minute,” said Pere Amat in his analysis of the match.

The second knockout game of the day saw a rematch of the last edition’s final between defending champions Germany and France. The French team, which had lost 1-2 in the 2023 Junior Men’s World Cup final, tested the Germans even more this time, as it took a tiebreaking shootout after 2-2 at full-time for the trophy holders to keep their title defense alive.

Germany won the shootout 3-1 to become the second team to enter the semis, with Jonas von Gersum, Justus Warweg, and Lukas Kossel converting for the reigning champions. For France, only Aristide Michaelis was able to beat German goalkeeper Jasper Ditzer, who foiled three French attempts to earn the Player-of-the-Match award.

Earlier in the regulation period, the lead kept exchanging hands, and the four quarters couldn’t decide the winner, ending at 2-2. For the first 29 of those 60 minutes, the two teams kept testing each other’s defense but couldn’t breach it. And all of a sudden, the game saw two goals in the 30th minute. Alec von Schwerin put Germany ahead, only to see France equalize moments later with Malo Martinache’s penalty-corner strike.

Paul Glander restored Germany’s lead after the break at 2-1 with his 36th-minute goal, after which their defensive structure held firm deep into the final quarter. But the 55th minute saw Hugo Dolou making it even at 2-2, and France held onto that to force a shootout.

Speaking after the match, German captain Ben Hasbach said, “It’s an amazing feeling. It was a very good team effort. We had a difficult first half but fought our way back into the game in the second half to win it; we deserved it. Over the whole year, we have been good in the last two quarters. We are a very good team and brought that to the pitch today.”

Two-time former winners Argentina and their captain Tomas Ruiz saved their best for the last against the Netherlands, after the two sides kept exchanging blows but failed to break the deadlock until the game saw its decisive goal in the final quarter. The moment gave the Argentines a 1-0 win for a spot in the last four and ended the Dutch hopes of a maiden title.

The fiercely contested game saw the umpires showing cards as many as eight times. Five of those were yellow-card suspensions, and four times it was an Argentine player who was sent out for five minutes. At one point the Argentina team was playing with nine players when Ruiz and Bruno Correa were both yellow-carded in the 21st minute.

The game kept the two on-field umpires busier but didn’t produce any goals until the 52nd-minute penalty corner earned by Argentina that saw Ruiz scoring. Interestingly, Netherlands’s Thies Bakker (53rd minute) and Ruiz (55th minute) were shown a yellow card, reducing both teams to 10 men.

But the Argentines defended in numbers, led by some brilliant goalkeeping by Joaquin S. Ruiz, to protect their 1-0 lead, and they succeeded in it to progress to the semifinals.

“We train every day and play every ball as if it is the last one. We are positive every day, in every moment, and we deserve this. We are in the semifinals,” said a delighted Mateo Serrano of Argentina.