All eyes on Bangladesh youngsters

The Bangladesh youngsters are keeping their eyes firmly on the historic final of the Under-18 Asia Cup Hockey and are quite confident ahead of their last four battle against Chinese Taipei at Maulana Bhasani Naional Hockey Stadium on Thursday. The match begins at 12:30pm and ATN Bangla will telecast it live. Arch-rivals India and Pakistan will lock horns with each other in the day's other semi-final at 3pm at the same venue. Bangladesh have never reached the final of the U-18 Asia Cup tournament but it can all change on Thursday. The signs of something big were apparent from the very first game when the boys in red and green earned a brilliant 5-4 victory over favourites India, against whom the Bangladesh U-18 side had never won before. The home side continued to shine in the next match against Oman, thrashing the Middle Eastern side 10-0. “We want to play the final and for that, we have to beat Chinese Taipei. Chinese Taipei are not much stronger than us but there is no way to take them lightly. The way we played in the group stages, we want to continue in the same way in the semi-finals as well. We are confident,” Bangladesh manager Kawsar Ali told the media on Wednesday. Drag-and-flick specialist Ashraful Islam, who netted seven goals in the group round, will once again carry Bangladesh's hopes along with the experienced trio Romman Sarkar, Fazle Hossain Rabby and Arshad Hossain, who have played for the senior team. Mohammad Mohsin and Mahbub Hossain also proved their worth against Oman and can play a vital role against Chinese Taipei. “The players have been training together for quite a long time. They have a good understanding. They are giving their best on the turf. Hopefully we will win [Thursday],” said Kawsar. On the other hand, captain Romman said, “Every match is important. There is no other alternative but to win the game against Chinese Taipei. We are confident we can do it.” Chinese Taipei began their campaign with a 6-1 defeat against Pakistan before beating Hong Kong 9-0 in the second game. They drew against China 2-2 to confirm second place from Pool B. If Bangladesh can beat Chinese Taipei, they will face either India or Pakistan in the final on Friday. Meanwhile in the day's first match, Oman will face China in the other classification match at 10am from which the losing side will finish seventh while the winners will face Hong Kong on Friday in the fifth-place decider.TODAY'S MATCHESBangladesh v Chinese Taipei, 12:30pm (Live on ATN Bangla)India v Pakistan, 3pmOman v China, 10am