New Delhi, Dec 10 (IANS) Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports, Dr. Mansukh Mandaviya, has hailed the Indian men's junior hockey team for winning a historic bronze medal for the first time at the FIH Men's Junior World Cup 2025 in Chennai, beating Argentina 4-2 in the third-place playoff on Wednesday.

In a post on X, formerly Twitter, Dr. Mandaivya said the bronze medal proves that the "#ChakDeIndia spirit continues to shine!"

"Proud of our junior boys for scripting history with their first-ever bronze medal, defeating Argentina in a thrilling contest.Congratulations, Team India!" Dr Mandaviya wrote in his post that was accompanied by a video showing the Indian team, coached by two-time Olympic bronze medallist PR Sreejesh, celebrating their historic triumph.

In the match played at the Mayor Radhakrishnan Stadium in Chennai, the hosts recorded a sensational 4-2 comeback win against Argentina, scoring four goals in eleven minutes to secure third place in the tournament.

Ankit Pal (49’), Manmeet Singh (52’), Shardanand Tiwari (57’), and Anmol Ekka (58’) scored for India after Nicolas Rodriguez (3’) and Santiago Fernandez (44’) had given the visitors the lead.

This is the first time that India won the bronze medal after winning two gold medals (2001, 2016) and a silver (1997) previously, and had missed the bronze medal in 2005, losing to Spain in a penalty stroke in the third-place playoff.

Following this historic win, Hockey India announced INR 5 lakh each to players and INR 2.5 lakh to the support staff.

On Wednesday, India began the game on the front foot, looking to make inroads against the Argentina defence. However, they fell behind as the visitors took the lead against the run of play, with Nicolas Rodriguez (3’) converting his penalty stroke. The hosts responded strongly, but a goal eluded them till till after half-time, even as Argentina doubled the lead in the 44th minute. India scored four goals from the 49th minute to the 58th minute to seal a memorable victory.

--IANS

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