Glittering performances in three tournaments – Asian Games Qualifiers, Hockey World League Round 1 and Men’s Junior AHF Cup – enabled hockey to be the most admired sport of 2014. When almost all the other sports disciplines faltered, hockey more or less produced inspiring performances. If only Bangladesh were able to register a better show than their eighth-place finish in the Asian Games, hockey would have undoubtedly become the most successful sport this year.
Hockey shows glimpses of a bright future
On March, Bangladesh regained the title of the Asian Games Qualifiers with a massive 6-1 thrashing over Oman in the final at Maulana Bhasani National Hockey Stadium. Bangladesh topped the eight-team event to seal their berth in the Asian Games.
Moving forward, an Indian hockey team dubbed India A, comprising a number of experienced internationals, arrived in the capital city on September. Bangladesh, however, lost the three-match series 3-0.
Coached by Pakistani Naveed Alam, Bangladesh exhibited a dismal display in the Incheon Asian Games as they suffered a 7-0 thumping at the hands of former champions and hosts South Korea. Bangladesh also went down against powerhouse Japan (8-0) and Malaysia (5-1). Bangladesh’s solitary victory came against Singapore (2-1). In the 7th-8th place decider Bangladesh lost 3-2 against Oman at Seonhak Hockey Stadium and the result frustrated the sports fans of the country a great deal.
However, success did not elude Bangladesh for long. The Red and Greens justified their pre-tournament favourites tag with a dominant display winning the Hockey World League Round 1 in Dhaka on September.
The home side posted victories over Sri Lanka (3-2) and Hong Kong (3-1) to seal a safe passage through to Round 2, scheduled for January 17-25 in Singapore. This is the second time Bangladesh will be taking part in Round 2, the first instance happening last year.
The Bangladesh youngsters wrapped up the year on a winning note in the Men’s Junior AHF Cup in December and the cherry on the cake was the new blue turf provided by the International Hockey Federation (FIH) and the Olympic Council Association.
The Men’s Junior AHF Cup was the final on-field event this year. The Bangladesh youngsters lifted their maiden title trouncing Oman 4-0 in the final. In the group stage, Bangladesh overpowered Oman 7-0, crashed a hapless Thailand 10-0, strolled past Chinese Taipei 7-0 and got the better of Sri Lanka by a 7-0 margin.
Bangladesh hockey received a big boost in December when FIH president Leandro Negre inaugurated the installation process of the new blue turf at the home of hockey. The FIH supremo, who represented Spain in the 1968 Mexico Olympics, came to Dhaka twice this year. On the first occasion, Negre had arrived on February.
The FIH boss also inaugurated the installation process of a mini-turf at BAF Shaheen School during his second visit.
Baki presents the country with a Commonwealth Games Silver
Abdullah Hel Baki ended the country’s 12-year wait for a Commonwealth Games medal as the Bangladesh shooter attained silver in the 10m air-rifle event of the 20th Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Scotland on July.
The 24-year old shooter from Gazipur qualified for the eight-man final round after finishing fifth in qualification with a score of 620 points. In the final shoot-off, Baki managed 202.1 points out of 218, narrowly missing out on the gold. 3.2 points was all that separated Baki from gold-winner Abhinav Singh Bindra of India.
Below-par show in the Asian Games
Apart from cricket and football, Bangladesh also participated in the disciplines of archery, kabaddi, shooting, gymnastics, golf, taekwondo, beach volleyball, wushu and weightlifting. US-based gymnast Quazi Syque Caesar’s performance left a lot to be desired and once again proved that Bangladesh is lagging far behind in gymnastics. Kabaddi, which was once covered with glory, is also disappearing slowly from the horizon.
Women’s handball team set new milestone
Bangladesh women’s handball team etched new history as they became the first women’s side, apart from cricket, to bring laurel for the country. The Bangladesh women clinched the International Handball Federation Trophy in Pakistan and the triumph tasted even more sweeter as they defeated the hosts in the final, that too on the month of Victory. Before beating Pakistan 34-22 in the final, Bangladesh defeated Nepal, Afghanistan and Yemen to stamp their authority. The success enabled Bangladesh to qualify for the continental phase of the women’s competition.