Bangladesh’s penalty-corner struggles and defensive errors were exposed again as they suffered a 6-1 defeat to Malaysia in their third match of the Asian Champions Trophy at the Surjit Hockey Stadium in Jalandhar on Friday.
Bangladesh earned six penalty corners but converted only one, with Amirul Islam scoring their only goal in the 26th minute. By then, Malaysia had already built a two-goal lead through Abu Kamal Azrai, who scored from open play in the 14th minute before converting a penalty corner eight minutes later.
Akhimullah Anuar restored Malaysia’s two-goal cushion with another penalty-corner goal in the 29th minute. The Malaysians then struck twice in quick succession early in the third quarter. Azimuddin Kamaruddin scored from a penalty corner in the 32nd minute before Shello Silverius made it 5-1 with a field goal a minute later.
Aiman Rozemi completed the scoring with Malaysia’s fourth penalty-corner goal of the match in the 50th minute.
Bangladesh struggled to contain Malaysia’s attacking pressure and were unable to make their own set-piece opportunities count. Their failure to convert five of the six penalty corners added to the defensive problems that have marked their campaign.
The defeat followed a 13-0 loss to hosts India in their opening match and a 1-0 defeat by Japan. Three consecutive losses have left Bangladesh without a point and at the bottom of the six-team standings.
Bangladesh will return to action against South Korea on November 1 before facing China on November 2 in their final round-robin fixture. They are then scheduled to play the fifth-place classification match on November 4.
