Khorshedur treble fires BD to top

Penalty-corner specialist Khorshedur Rahman netted a hattrick to help Bangladesh earn a hard-fought 3-2 win over Oman in Jakarta yesterday and emerge as Group B champions in the Men's AHF Cup.

The unbeaten Bangladesh team will meet Pool A runners-up Kazakhstan in the semifinal while Oman will take on Pool A champions Sri Lanka in the other semifinal on Saturday.

With three wins from as many matches, Bangladesh and Oman both took to the field to decide who would finish on top of the group.

Bangladesh started positively by taking the lead in the eighth minute as Khorshedur converted the second penalty corner of the match.

However, Oman hit back two minutes into the second half, with Rashad Al Fazari scoring from a counter-attack in the 32nd minute before Fahad Al Lawati gave Oman a deserved lead in the 48th minute with a clever flick.

After falling behind, Bangladesh began to press and converted their third penalty corner through Khorshedur in the 56th minute, before he completed his hattrick and secured a win by converting another penalty stroke two minutes from time.