Men's Junior Asia Cup Hockey
The dream to play in the final of the Men's Junior Asia Cup hockey of Bangladesh Under-21 Hockey Team remain unfulfilled as the boys were defeated to strong Japan boys in the second quarterfinal by 3-0 margin on Thursday.
Bangladesh who are ranked 29th in the IHF world ranking faced 16th ranked Japan at the Wisma Belia Hockey Stadium in Kuantan, Malaysia.
The Japanese led the first half by 1-0 margin. Their skipper Ochiai Hiromasa opened the net in the 21st minute while Yamada Shota sent the ball twice into the post in the same 68th minute. Yamada's first goal was from a penalty stroke and the second was a field goal.
Earlier, the Bengal boys moved to the quarterfinal as the second placer of the Pool-B with nine points from three matches.
Though the boys begin the junior event with a 1-3 defeat to Pakistan in the first match on Saturday, they beat Oman by 5-4 margin in the second match on Sunday and defeated South Korea by 2-0 margin on Tuesday.
Now, with such a defeat to Japan in the quarter, Bangladesh lost its chance to qualify for the World Youth Hockey scheduled to be held in India next year and they will play Oman in a 5th to 8th place decider match on Saturday.