Pakistan suffer gruelling defeat against India at Women's Junior Hockey Asia Cup

HULUNBUIR: Pooja Malik's hat-trick helped India inflict a crushing 19-0 defeat on arch-rivals Pakistan in the 2026 Women's Junior Asia Cup quarter-final here at the Moqi Training Base on Thursday.

India made a rampant start to the high-stakes fixture as they netted five goals in the first quarter through Puja Sahoo, Roshni Aind, Dinesh Kadu, Sukhveer Kaur and Sanika Chandrakant Mane.

The second quarter followed the same pattern as India added five more to their tally, with Madhu Sidar, Geeta Yadav, Tanuja Toppo and Pooja Malik getting on the scoresheet, while Mane netted her second of the match.

The penultimate quarter remained relatively quieter as India netted thrice through Purnima Yadav and Supriya, who contributed one apiece, while Sidar struck her second.

India were even more dominant in the final quarter as they scored six more goals, with Pooja Malik leading their late outburst by adding two more to her tally and completing her hat-trick, while Krishna Sharma and Binima Dhan struck once apiece.

The final quarter also saw Surpiya and Roshni completing their respective brace as India booked their spot in the semi-final with a ruthless victory, where they will lock horns with South Korea, who earlier edged past Malaysia 1-0 in their respective quarter-final meeting.

On the contrary, the humbling defeat drew the curtains on Pakistan's campaign, who earned their quarter-final qualification by finishing third in the Challengers pool standings behind Kazakhstan and toppers Bangladesh.

During the preliminary stage, Pakistan secured victories over Hong Kong, China, and Chinese Taipei, suffered defeat against Bangladesh, and held Kazakhstan to a 1-1 draw.