Goalkeeper Loic van Doren was the hero in the shoot-out as Belgium ended Germany’s hopes of winning a third successive title, following their triumphs in 2009 and 2013, with a 4-3 victory after a goalless draw.

They now face a gold medal match with the home nation who overcame Australia 4-2 in a shoot-out on the back of a 2-2 draw at the Major Dhyan Chand Hockey Stadium.

In the first semi-final, Belgium were marginally the better team in opening period with Germany goalkeeper Lennart Küppers being forced into making two smart saves from the lively Thomas Verheijen.

Germany looked a different side though in the second-half, with the exceptional Timm Herzbruch causing the Belgian defence no end of problems and keeping stopper Van Doren extremely active.

Jan Schiffer came closest to breaking the deadlock with a far post deflection, but failed to hit the target.

Belgium took an early lead in the shoot-out when Van Doren forced an error from Philip Schmid, but a fine save from Germany’s Niklas Garst, who replaced Küppers for the final showdown, left things level after four rounds.

The decisive moment arrived when Van Doren denied Herzbruch, before Robbert Rubens slammed the ball home to send Belgium into their first Men’s Junior World Cup final.

"I’ve been training a lot, analysing all the stats and all the movements, and I think all of that training helped us win today," said Van Doren, referring to his form in shoot-outs.

"We are really going for gold now.

"We’re in the final it is going to be an amazing game."

The second semi-final saw Tom Craig put Australia ahead in the first-half, before Gurjant Singh pulled India level with a stunning run and backhand finish in the 48th minute.

Mandeep Singh’s superb steal and shot put the hosts into a 2-1 lead, but Lachlan Sharp made it 2-2 with what proved to be the final goal of the game in the 57th minute.

India scored all four of their efforts in the shoot-out and it was ultimately enough to reach their first Men’s Junior World Cup final since winning the competition in 2001, with Matthew Bird and Lachlan Sharp both unsuccessful for Australia.

Earlier in the day, a last-gasp strike from Koji Yamasaki gave Japan a 2-1 victory over Asian rivals South Korea and sealed a 13^th-place finish in the competition.

Kota Watanabe scored in the 55th minute to put Japan into the lead, but South Korea restored parity thanks to Oh Seyong, who showed quick reflexes to volley home a shot that hit the frame of the opposition's goal.

Yamasaki’s goal arrived from an overtime penalty corner, deflecting in from five metres out to condemn the South Koreans to a 14th-place finish.

Egypt were winners of the 15^th-place play-off, defeating Canada 2-1 in the opening match of the day.

Rohan Chopra gave Canada the lead at the end of the first-half when he forced home a saved penalty corner from close range, but Mohamed Gadelkarim’s penalty corner drag-flick levelled the scores with 12 minutes remaining.

Ahmed Elganaini hit the winner three minutes from the end of the match, cracking a fierce backhand effort into the top-right corner to seal victory for the African champions.

Germany and Australia will compete in the bronze medal match, which is scheduled to take place on Sunday (December 18) prior to the final.

Tomorrow’s action sees South Africa meet New Zealand in the ninth-place play-off and Austria go up against Malaysia in the 11^th-place play-off.

There will also be fifth to eighth-place classification matches with Argentina facing England and The Netherlands doing battle with Spain.

The winners of those two ties will contest the fifth-place play-off on Sunday, while the losers will meet in the seventh-place play-off.