Bangladesh Men's
Hockey team clinched the Junior AHF Cup (U-21) Men's Hockey title for a record 3rd times with all-win run beating former champions China by 4-2 goals in the final at the Sengkang Sports Centre in Singapore on Sunday.
Defending champions Bangladesh earned their 2nd consecutive title with all-win record after 2014 and 2023 since its inception in 2003 with the frustration of China, the champions of 2011 and 2019, reports UNB.
Chinese Taipei and Oman won the remaining two titles of the seven edition of the meet.
In the day's final, the match was locked in goalless position in the first quarter of 15 minutes, but Bangladesh took control of the match scoring three goals in the 2nd quarter to dominate the first half clearly by 3-0 goals.
Mohammad Rakibul Hasan struck two two field goals in the 22nd and 27th minutes while Amirul Islam scored one in the 25th minute from a penalty corner (3-0).
China strongly came back in the match scoring two goals in the 33rd and 41st minutes of the 3rd quarter (3-2).
Finally, Obaidul Hossain Joy made the Bangladesh tense free scoring the 4th goal in the 63rd minute guiding his team to clinch the title with a 4-2 goals victory.
With the day's feat, Amirul Islam of Bangladesh finished 2nd slot in the scorer list scoring ten goals while Duisengazy Agymtay of Kazakhstan top the list with ten goals
Earlier, Bangladesh reached the semifinal as the Pool A champions with all-win record securing full 12 points from straight four matches, crushing Singapore 7-0, Sri Lanka 5-0, Thailand 4-2 and Indonesia by 7-0 goals in their Pool A matches
In the semifinal, Bangladesh eliminated another former champions Chinese Taipei by 5-1 goals.
Meanwhile, Bangladesh women' Hockey team outplayed hosts Singapore by 7-1 goals in their last league match at the same venue on Sunday.
Bangladesh dominated the first half by 4-0 goals.
Nadira Ema struck two, Sanjida Moni, Kona Akter, Airin Riya, Sonia Khatun and captain Orpita Pal scored one each for Bangladesh while captain Saiful Lana scored the consolation goal for hosts Singapore in the 45th minute from a penalty stroke.
This was the 5th win for Bangladesh Women's Hockey team in their 6th last league match after beating Thailand 5-4 , Hong Kong (China) 2-1, Sri Lanka 7-2, Indonesia 10-1 and conceded 0-3 goals defeat against Chinese Taipei, apart from day's 7-1 win over host Singapore.
On completion of six-match seven team league, Bangladesh finished runners up securing 15
points while Chinese Taipei emerged champions with 18 points.
Earlier, Bangladesh Women's team qualified for the final round of the Junior Asia Cup (U-21) Hockey for the first time as one of the five best teams of the ongoing seven-nation Junior AHF Cup (U-21) Hockey Tournament.
Bangladesh Women's team took part in the Junior AHF Cup (U-21) Hockey for the first time in 2019 and was finished 5th in the six-nation meet beating only Sri Lanka by 2-0 goals.
