Bangladesh finished ninth in the Asian Games women’s hockey tournament after beating Singapore 2-1 in a penalty shootout following a 1-1 draw in regulation time on Friday.
The 9th-12th place classification match at Gifu Prefectural Green Stadium remained tightly contested after both teams traded attacking spells.
Airin Akter Riya gave Bangladesh the lead in the 10th minute with a field goal. Bangladesh protected their advantage through the remainder of the first half.
Singapore increased the pressure after the interval and found an equaliser in the 44th minute.
Bangladesh had been reduced to 10 players after Lima Akter received a yellow card and was temporarily suspended in the 42nd minute.
Singapore took advantage of the numerical advantage when Tao Li Min converted from a penalty corner two minutes later to make it 1-1.
Neither side could find a winning goal before the end of regulation time, sending the match into a penalty shootout.
Bangladesh held their nerve in the shootout to secure a 2-1 victory and finish ninth in their first Asian Games women’s hockey campaign.
The result gave Bangladesh a positive finish after a difficult group-stage campaign against some of Asia’s stronger sides.
The women’s team had entered the tournament for the first time after securing qualification through the Asian Games Qualifiers in Jakarta earlier this year.
Their historic qualification marked Bangladesh women’s hockey team’s first appearance at the Asian Games.
The ninth-place finish now gives the team a winning result to close their debut campaign in Japan.
