Hosts eye Round 2
Fresh from a hard-fought 3-2 win over Sri Lanka in their first match, Bangladesh will be looking forward to sealing their qualification for the second round of the World Hockey League when they take on Hong Kong in the last match of the first round at the Maulana Bhasani Hockey Stadium yesterday.
Even a draw against Hong Kong, who suffered a 1-6 goal defeat against Sri Lanka yesterday, will be good enough for the hosts to qualify for the next round, which is scheduled to be held in Singapore in January next year.
The odds are heavily in favour of the hosts as they had beaten the same opponents by 5-1 goals in the Asian Games Qualifiers this year and by 6-1 goals in the inaugural World Hockey League in 2012.
Meanwhile, in yesterday's match, Sri Lanka wasted little time in taking the lead against Hong Kong as Dhammika Ranasingha put the islanders ahead by converting a penalty corner in the third minute.
Forward Mohammad Mulafar doubled the lead in the 30th minute with a fierce reverse hit before Sadanuwan Priya Lanka made it 3-0 in the 43rd minute with another reverse hit.
Dhammika Ranasingha struck his second goal from a penalty corner in the 45th minute before Hong Kong pulled one back through Felix two minutes later.
However, Lakhsan Nanayakra and Mohammad Mulafar struck two more goals in the 48th and 54th minutes respectively to secure the first points from the league for the Lankans.
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