France beat India 5-4 in Men's Junior Hockey World Cup

Bhubaneshwar: France have stunned defending Champions India 5-4 in Men's Junior Hockey World Cup in Bhubaneswar last night. India started their campaign on a poor note, going down 4-5 to lowly-ranked France on the opening day of the tournament at the Kalinga Stadium. Vice-captain Sanjay converted three penalty corners for India while Uttam Singh scored the other goal for the hosts.

The Indians now need to pull up their socks in the remaining matches if



they have to qualify for the quarterfinals and maintain their hopes of defending the title they won in 2016 at Lucknow.

India will take on Canada at 7:30 PM today. Earlier in the day, Belgium had a great start with a 5-1 win over South Africa. Pakistan was disappointed as it lost 5-2 to Germany. A total of 16 teams are competing for the prestigious World Cup who will fight it out till the fifth of next month.