Despite taking the lead, Bangladesh suffered a second defeat in the 19th Asian Games Men’s Hockey, losing to Pakistan by 5-2 goals in their second Pool A match held today (Tuesday) at Gongshu Canal Sports Park Stadium.
With the day’s second defeat, it became difficult for Bangladesh to reach the semifinal.
Bangladesh, however, made a positive start, keeping the first quarter goalless. Puskar Kisha Mimo gave Bangladesh a deserving lead in the second quarter by converting a penalty corner in the 19th minute.
Pakistan fought back to level the margin 1-1 as Arfaz restored parity in the 30th minutes.
Pakistan took the lead in the third quarter as Muhammad Shahzaib Khan scored the second goal in the 40th minute and Muhammad Ammad further widened the margin by scoring the third goal for Pakistan in the 43rd minute.
Bangladesh pulled one back in the fourth quarter as Md Milon Hossain scored the second goal in the 46th minute.
Muhammad Sufiyan Khan scored the fourth goal for Pakistan in the 48th minute, while Arbaz Ahmad sealed the victory by scoring the fifth goal for Pakistan in the 57th minute of the match.
After the match, Mohammad Ashraful Islam said they had lost the match because of lack of experience and proper preparation.
“Despite having a good fitness level and training, we could not play our to the mark against Pakistan because we did not play any international practice matches against the high-profile teams before taking part in the Asian Games. The result could have been different if we could play some international matches before the Asian Games,” said Ashraful.
He also emphasized organizing international matches for good hockey results before participating in the major events.
Bangladesh will play their next match against Singapore scheduled to be held on Thursday (Sept 28) at the same venue.
Earlier, Bangladesh go down 7-2 to Japan while Pakistan thrashed Singapore by 11-0 goals, both their respective group opening matches.
In the fencing event held at Hangzhou Dianzi University Gymnasium, Fatema Mujib and Roksana Khatun exit from the individual event. Fatema Mujib lost Bangladesh’s first match against her Thailand rival Srinulandha Bandhuta by 5-4 points, despite a strong fight held in pool three.
The SA Games gold-winning fencer lost to her opponents from South Korea, Singapore, Hong Kong and China in the remaining matches.
On the other hand, Roksana Khatun lost five matches and exited from the individual event. Among the five matches she was able to put up a strong fight against her Saudi Arabia’s rival Alhammad Al Hasna by 5-4 points defeat held in pool four.
In shooting held at Fuyang Yinhu Sports Centre Shooting Range, Bangladesh finished ninth position out of twenty-one countries in the 10m air rifle mixed team, even scoring 625.8.
Rabiul Islam scored 311.5 and Shaira Arefin scored 314.3. The top six teams will advance to the finals. Indian, as the sixth team, scored 628.2.
China won gold in this event and silver went to Uzbekistan, while Kazakhstan and South Korea secured the bronze medal. (BSS)
