Four-time champions India brushed aside the challenge from Malaysia to register a 3-1 victory in the semifinals of the Men’s Junior Asia Cup in Muscat, Oman on Tuesday (Dec 3).   The Indians will now go into a showdown against the Pakistanis in Wednesday’s final (Dec 4). Pakistan triumphed 4-2 over Japan in the first semi-final encounter.   This will be Pakistan’s eighth final and India’s seventh in the Men’s Junior Asia Cup since 1988.   The Malaysians, ranked World No 11, turned the heat on the World No 2-ranked Indians when it mattered most. They went on a quick goal-hunt, earning their first penalty corner three minutes into the match but failed to capitalise on the opportunity.   Following this setback, the game then switched in favour of India who held the ball possession briefly. Their efforts bore fruit when Dilraj Singh scored on a field goal in the 10^th minute for a 1-0 lead.   The Malaysians, however, roared back in search of an equaliser and earned three more penalty corners against one by India in the second quarter. They had constantly created circle entries and again could not convert those chances into goals.   The first half was an evenly balanced game with Malaysian goalkeeper Mohamad Rafaizul and India’s Bikramjit Singh kept busy between the goal posts.   The Indians, however, slowly and gradually upped the ante in the third and fourth quarters. Rohit (44^th) and Sharda Tiwari Nand (52^nd) converted penalty corners while the Malaysians received back-to-back penalty corners four minutes before the end of regulation time and eventually scored from a penalty stroke through Azimuddin Syakir Kamaruddin.   The Young Tigers will now battle for the bronze medal against Japan on Wednesday (Dec 4).   Japan ranked World No 18, were a difficult opponent for World No 9 Pakistan. Fans witnessed how Japan’s tactical game overcame the Pakistanis’ hallmark of individual performance to make quick inroads to draw level 1-1 first, and then at 2-2. It was an evenly contested match till the very end of regulation time.   The Pakistanis, however, went on to display their true character in the fourth quarter just when the Japanese game slowed down. Hannan Shahid proved why he was honoured by the International Hockey Federation with the Emerging Player of the Year award in 2023.   Hannan scored his second goal and Pakistan’s third in the 48^th minute to give the Green Shirts a 3-2 lead while Sufyan Khan converted a penalty stroke (52^nd) to seal a 4-2 win.   The 19-year-old Hannan (27^th) and Ali Basharat (38^th) had earlier scored for Pakistan while Tsubasa Tanaka (30^th) and Rakusei Yamanaka (41^st) replied for Japan as the match stalled to a 2-2 draw heading into the third quarter.   Bangladesh made history as they qualified for the Men's Junior Hockey World Cup 2025 for the first time with a 7-2 win over Thailand in the 5-8^th classification match.   Joining Bangladesh in the JWC 2025 is China. The Chinese edged South Korea 4-3 in the second 5-8^th classification match. Both Bangladesh and China will now play in the 5-6^th place match.