Bangladesh women, men eye semifinals

Bangladesh are eying semifinal berths in both men's and women's events of U-18 Asia Cup hockey, which will be held in Dazhou, China from July 3-13.

Bangladesh Hockey Federation's president and Air Chief Marshal Hasan Mahmood Khan met with the players of the two teams and unveiled jerseys during an event in Dhaka on Saturday, two days prior to their departure for China.

Bangladesh, who were the runners-up in the men's event last time around in 2016, have been pitted in Pool A alongside Pakistan, china, Sri Lanka and Hong Kong.

The team's coach Moududur Rahman Shuvo informed The Daily Star that the 18-member team is made up of BKSP players, with two of the players having experience of playing for the under-21 side.

"Our first target will be to reach the semifinals. With Pakistan and China are in the group, we will try to fight against Pakistan and get a positive result against the hosts. And then we will take step by step from there."

The youth team coach, who guided the under-21 team to their first-ever Junior World Cup, informed that the team has played practice matches against Army and Air Force teams as well as among themselves with some senior BKSP players among the ranks.

He also informed that Bangladesh might play a preparation match against Kazakhstan the day before the start of the tournament.

Meanwhile, the women's team will be playing in the tournament for the very first time, with coach Zahid Hasan Raju eyeing semifinals berth.

The coach said that despite the inexperience of the team, the four-month training camp in BKSP has given the players maturity and understanding of the tactical and technical aspects of the game.

Bangladesh women's team are in Pool A alongside favourites Japan as well as Uzbekistan and Hong Kong. The coach believes the group formation gives them a chance to qualify for the final four.

"We will try to win against Uzbekistan and Hong Kong," Raju told The Daily Star. "Japan, China and India are world-class teams and we will try to play well when we them (in group or knockout rounds)."

The coach also informed that since the Bangladeshi women's players started at a very young age, 11 out of the 18 players of this team have played in U-21 AHF Cup before.