Bangladesh men’s hockey team secured their first win of the Asian Games with a convincing 5-1 victory over Sri Lanka in their Pool A match in Gifu, Japan, today.
The result gave the men in red and green a response after defeats to South Korea and Japan. It also erased some of the concern created by Sri Lanka’s 3-2 victory over Bangladesh in the Asian Games Qualifiers in April, when they ended a 20-year wait for a win over Bangladesh.
Bangladesh took control early, with Amirul Islam opening the scoring in the seventh minute from a penalty corner. Ashraful Islam doubled the advantage in the first minute of the second quarter, also converting a penalty corner.
Sri Lanka reduced the deficit in the 19th minute when Kudal Weerappuli converted a penalty corner, but Bangladesh quickly restored their two-goal advantage.
Amirul struck again three minutes before half-time, this time from a penalty, to send Bangladesh into the break 3-1 ahead.
The Bangladesh attack continued to put pressure on Sri Lanka after the interval. Mahbub Hossain added the fourth in the 32nd minute by converting a penalty goal, leaving Sri Lanka with little room to recover.
Ashraful completed the scoring in the 54th minute, converting a penalty stroke to seal the 5-1 victory for German coach Peter Gerhard’s side.
Bangladesh also kept Sri Lanka’s defence under sustained pressure throughout the contest, earning more than 15 penalty corners.
The victory marked Bangladesh’s first win in the men’s hockey competition at the ongoing Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games, where both the men’s and women’s teams are representing the country.
The result also reversed the recent outcome between the two sides. Bangladesh had suffered a defeat to Sri Lanka in the AHF Cup earlier this year, adding to the pressure around their latest meeting.
This time, however, Bangladesh controlled the contest after taking an early lead and finished with a four-goal margin.
