Bangladesh thrash Taipei 8-3

Mohammad Abdullah, Ashraful Islam and Rakibul Hasan scored a brace apiece as Bangladesh brushed aside Chinese Taipei 8-3 in their second Pool B match of the Asia Cup in Bihar on Saturday.

Sohanur Rahman Sabun and captain Rezaul Karim Babu scored one goal apiece in the second fixture for the men in red and green, who had started off their campaign with a 4-1 defeat against Malaysia on Friday.

Although coming into the match with a 2-0 head-to-head record against Chinese Taipei, Bangladesh struggled for dominance early on despite taking a fourth-minute lead through Abdullah.

Tsung-Yu Shih scored a brace to give Taipei, who had lost their opening match 7-0 against Korea, a surprise lead. However, Abdullah equalised in the 26th minute to make sure scores were level at half-time.

Bangladesh turned up a different side in the second half as Ashraful and Rakibul scored braces while Sobuj and Babu added one each to give Moshiur Rahman Biplob's charges an 8-2 lead. 

Taipei, however, pulled one back in the dying seconds of the match.

The win will help Bangladesh finish at least third in the group, with their last game against Korea scheduled for Monday.