Germany's Shootout Drama: How They Won a Record 8th Junior Hockey World Cup

The 13-day event, which began on November 28 and was held in Chennai and Madurai as the two host cities, concluded with a fitting finale on Wednesday that was decided in a shootout.

The last day of the tournament also saw two-time winners India defeating Argentina in the third-place match to finish on the podium with a bronze medal.

Germany extended their record of Men's Junior World Cup title wins to eight by holding their nerves to first take the final against Spain to full-time at 1-1 and then win it in the shootout, riding on their rising star Jasper Ditzer's goalkeeping skills.

The teams' nervousness was evident: Spain were vying for their maiden title in their first final, while Germany wanted to defend their crown. The focus of both teams was more on their defence, especially Germany, after they took the lead in the 26th minute through Justus Warweg's field goal.

But Spain managed to breach the German fortress three minutes after half-time as Nicolas Mustaros helped his side draw level at 1-1.

Neither team could score from the penalty corners they created; Spain had five, all in the goalless first quarter they dominated, while Germany earned three.

The shootout too went down to the wire, decided on the 10th attempt.

Germany got off to a poor start, with Jonas von Gersum and Warweg failing to beat the defences of goalkeeper Diego Palomero, who Spain brought in to replace Jan Capellades for the shootout. Spain's Pere Amat too failed to make his team's first attempt against German goalkeeper Ditzer count, but Pablo Roman scored to put his team ahead.

The Germans made things even when Benedikt Geyer converted their third attempt, and Aleix Bozal missed for Spain. But it was Germany that handled pressure well, scoring off their last two attempts as well - thanks to Alec von Schwerin and captain Ben Hasbach. Though Spain kept itself in with Juan Prado's conversion, their crucial last attempt by Andres Medina was foiled by Ditzer, which sparked wild celebrations on the field and in the German dugout.

"Spain made it incredibly hard for us, and we didn't have the best of our days in possession and in the moments of transition. But then, the boys always believed in being able to win in the shootout, which we did," said Germany's coach Mirko Stenzel after the title win.

"It feels amazing, overwhelming as well. We didn't really think about the seven titles that you mentioned. We are just celebrating the present one. Incredibly proud of the boys, coming back from probably not the best of the matches during this tournament or this year," added Mirko Stenzel.

Final: Germany 1 (3) - 1 (2) Spain

Player of the Match: Jasper Ditzer (Germany)

Umpires: Timothy Sheahan (Australia) and Daniel Veerman (Netherlands)

Individual Award Winners

Best Player and FIH Rising Star of the Year: Casper van der Veen (Netherlands)

Top Scorer: Amirul Islam (Bangladesh)

Best Goalkeeper: Jasper Ditzer (Germany).

- ANI