A face-saving win
After two massive defeats against Japan and Malaysia, Bangladesh hockey team got their first win of the Asian Games yesterday when they eked out a 2-1 win over Singapore in their Pool A encounter at the Seonhak Hockey Stadium in Incheon yesterday.
Pushkor Khisha Mimo and Khorshedur Rahman struck one goal apiece in the second quarter for 30th-ranked Bangladesh before Yi Ru Tan reduced the margin for Singapore in the fourth and final quarter.
The win over the 36th ranked side made sure Bangladesh will compete for the 7th/8th-place deciding match even though they still have a group phase match against hosts South Korea remaining.
Bangladesh got off to a shaky start as they took time to find their feet on the blue turf, but managed to keep Singapore at bay through the first quarter. Enjoying the lion's share of support, with a hundred students from a nearby girls' school chanting 'Bangladesh, Bangladesh, Mimo, Mimo', the players in Red and Green grew in confidence and built up a few attacks which resulted in the two quick goals the second quarter.
The first goal came in the 22nd minute when Moinul Islam Koushik built up the attack from the left and threaded the ball to Krishna Kumar who set up unmarked Mimo for an easy strike from close range.
Three minutes later, Bangladesh earned a penalty stroke when Koushik was roughly challenged as he was about to pull the trigger from point-blank range. Khorshed converted the stroke to put clear daylight between the sides.
Bangladesh dominated the show thereafter and created a lot of chances including penalty corners but failed to extend their lead. The missed chances gave Bangladesh some nervous moments as Singapore, who had lost to Bangladesh twice by 2-0 margin this year, reduced the arrears in start of the fourth quarter.
“We had hoped to win the match by 5 or 6 goals and we created the chances too, but we will take the 2-1 win anyway,” said Mimo, adding that support from stands inspired them to play well.
Mimo also said that they were not hoping for a win or a draw against South Korea in their next match rather they would be happy if they could keep the margin of defeat to within 5-2 or 6-2.
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