Oman defeat ends disastrous campaign
Bangladesh hockey team finished eighth among ten teams in the 17th Asian Games after suffering a 2-3 defeat against Oman in the place-deciding match at the Seonhak Hockey Stadium in Incheon yesterday.
The fourth defeat in five matches left Bangladesh in the same position they had attained in the previous edition even though the team management, especially the coach, had set their sights on either the fifth or sixth position before the games began.
Since their 0-8 defeat against Japan in their opening match, Bangladesh failed to put up any resistance against the other teams, except for Singapore, whom they beat 2-1. Yesterday's defeat against Oman, a team Bangladesh had beaten by 6-1 goals in the final of the Asian Games Qualifiers in Dhaka earlier this year, capped off a disastrous campaign.
However, coach Naveed Alam, whose 14-month tenure in charge of the national team comes to an end after the Asian Games, found enough excuse for the defeat.
“We made many mistakes and missed many chances. The margin should have been like the one we had in the Asian Games qualifying round," said Naveed.
Bangladesh dominated the early proceedings and took a deserved lead in the 11th minute from a penalty corner converted by Pushkor Khisha Mimo before they gradually lost control as the game progressed.
Oman played some fantastic hockey to expose the Bangladesh defence in the second quarter and equalised in the 18th minute through Ahmed Sabeel Habib Al Balushi before grabbing the lead through Qasim Moosa Khalfan Al Shibli in the 37th minute.
Bangladesh fought back through the conversion of a penalty corner by Krishna Kumar in the 39th minute but once again they threw away the initiative. Defender Farhad Ahmed Shitul made an unnecessary challenge on an Oman player in the 45th minute to concede a penalty corner, which gave Oman the winning goal.
The Bangladesh players failed to convert two penalty corners in the dying moments as they surrendered meekly.
The Pakistani coach however put on a brave face as he felt Bangladesh's performance in the tournament was appreciable.
"I am very satisfied with our work. We did our best and players did their best. I am not disappointed with my players," said Naveed adding that Bangladesh team improved much under his guidance but still need to improve on confidence by playing more international matches.
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