Bangladesh’s women’s hockey team have qualified for the Asian Games for the first time in their history, beating Hong Kong China 2-1 in their final group match of the qualifier in Jakarta on Sunday. The result was all the more remarkable given it was the team’s debut international tournament.
The 20th Asian Games will be held in Japan in September-October this year, and for the first time, Bangladesh will be represented by both a men’s and a women’s hockey team.
Hong Kong were no pushovers. Ranked 34th in the world, they have appeared at the Asian Games six times, finishing ninth as recently as 2022. Inside the first minute at the GBK Hockey Field, they showed exactly why, scoring early to rattle the debutants.
Bangladesh did not rattle for long.
From the second minute, Bangladesh pressed back with intent. Their reward came in the 10th minute when midfielder Nadira Emma struck a superb field goal from a scramble to level at 1-1.
The remainder of the first quarter brought two penalty corners for Bangladesh, neither of which were converted. The second quarter produced chances without a breakthrough. It was the kind of half that might have unsettled a more experienced side.
Coach Zahid Hossain’s team had scored five goals from penalty corners across their opening two matches, but on Sunday those set pieces simply would not fall. Six penalty corners came and went without a goal, an unusual bluntness from a side that had looked so clinical in front of goal earlier in the tournament.
Yet the winner arrived all the same. In the 39th minute, Kona Akter converted a field goal to put Bangladesh ahead. Hong Kong pushed hard in the final quarter, repeatedly threatening the Bangladesh defence, but Arpita and her teammates held firm.
Bangladesh’s route through the group was anything but straightforward. They opened with a 5-5 draw against Chinese Taipei, then beat Uzbekistan 3-2 before Sunday’s victory over Hong Kong. Of the eight teams in the qualifier, the top four advance to the Asian Games, and Bangladesh are through.
