Photo: Collected
Bangladesh have finally tasted victory in men’s hockey at the 20th Asian Games. The red-and-green side beat Sri Lanka 5-1 in a one-sided match at the Gifu Prefectural Green Stadium in Nagoya, Japan on Thursday.
Bangladesh dominated the match from the start. They went ahead in the very first quarter through a goal by Amirul Islam.
Bangladesh extended the lead further in the second quarter. Roman Sarkar’s side still had full control of the match in their own hands.
Amirul Islam and Ashraful Islam scored two goals each for Bangladesh. The other goal came from the stick of Mahbub Hossain.
Bangladesh earned more than 15 penalty corners over the whole match and kept the Sri Lankan defence under constant pressure.
Kushal pulled one goal back for Sri Lanka, but it remained only a consolation goal. In the end, Bangladesh comfortably secured three points.
This is Bangladesh’s first win in men’s hockey at the ongoing Asian Games.
In their remaining two group-stage matches, Bangladesh will face Indonesia and India on 26 and 28 September respectively at the same venue.
Earlier, the red-and-green representatives had begun their Asian Games mission with a 5-0 defeat to South Korea. In the second match, they lost 6-1 to Japan.
