The Malaysian Young Tigress earned the fifth and last ticket to the 2025 Women’s Junior World Cup following a 6-0 victory over Thailand in the 5-6th classification match at the Junior Asia Cup in Muscat, Oman on Sunday (Dec 15).
It is also a historic moment for the Malaysian Women’s Junior Hockey Team as they successfully qualified on merit for the first time in 35 years since the tournament was introduced in 1989.
Nurshamine Azureen Mohammed Badusha scored a hat-trick (2nd, 9th and 19th minutes) while Azmyra Mia Sofea Azhairy slammed two goals (30th, 53rd), and Thibatharshini James converted a penalty corner in the 47th minute.
Zati Alyani Muhammad Zubir received the Player of the Match award, and Nurshamine Azureen was picked for the Rising Star Award.
Malaysian team manager Datuk Mohd Saiyuti Abdul Samat said: “We are excited with this win and our qualification to the Junior World Cup. When we return home, we will plan something for the team, maybe a tour to give the players more experience. After this the players will compete in the national league.
“The players will be playing against top clubs and foreign teams. I hope they will learn from this experience,” added Saiyuti.
The Malaysians will be joined in the World Cup by India, China, Japan and South Korea. The 11th edition of the World Cup will be held in Santiago, Chile.
Alongside the host, 23 other teams qualify via the continental championships. The 2025 Junior World Cup will feature 24 teams for the first time.
The teams that have so far qualified for the 2025 Women’s Junior World Cup are Argentina, Canada, United States, Uruguay (Junior Pan American Championships); Belgium, England, Germany, Ireland, the Netherlands, Spain (Euro Hockey U-21 Championships); Wales and Scotland (Euro Hockey U-21 Championships II); India, China, Japan, South Korea and Malaysia (Junior Asia Cup).
The Junior Oceania Cup will be held in Auckland, New Zealand (30 January to February 2025), and the Junior Africa Cup in Windhoek, Namibia (April 2025).
In the final, the Indian women’s hockey team beat China 4-2 in penalty shootout to successfully defend its title. After a 1-1 draw in regulation time, the title clash went to a shootout which saw the defending champion came out victorious.
Earlier in the third placing match, Korea won bronze beating Japan 3-2 in the shootout after 1-1 draw full time.