Bangladesh satisfied despite U18 Asia Cup Hockey defeat

Bangladesh players, head coach and manager were not fully satisfied with their display when they earned a huge 6-1 victory against Chinese Taipei but despite losing 5-4 against India, everyone seemed happy with the performance and termed bad luck for their defeat in the nail-biting Under-18 Asia Cup Hockey final on Friday. The young boys showed great spirit and determination from the beginning of the tournament right till the end of the final. A late winner just three seconds before the final whistle might have snatched the title from Bangladesh's grasp but the home side already did an outstanding job before the match had even begun as they reached the final of the tournament for the first time in history. There were plenty of things to learn from the young Bengal Tigers, who will surely lead the senior side in big tournaments sooner or later. Bangladesh played a total of four matches in the seven-day event and won all the matches, except the final, scoring 25 goals conceding 10. Bangladesh and India faced off in the group stage which ended with the same margin as the final but the home side were the winning side on that occasion. “It's totally bad luck that we lost [yesterday]. The boys performed really well. They played like we expected. They took the lead twice but conceding a goal in the last three seconds; there is no answer for that. It was just not our day but we didn't lose,” said team manager Kawser Ali after the game. Drag-and-flick hero Ashraful Islam was in brilliant form throughout the tournament, scoring the highest 11 goals. He also defended well on Friday. He said, “We played with determination. We wanted to win the game. They were also very organised. But at the end of the day I think it is luck that denied us the win. It's really hard to concede a goal in that moment.” Captain and the tournament's best performer Romman Sarkar wants to take lessons from the competition. “We have plenty to learn. It has been a huge experience for all the players. We need to improve in attack and defence if we want to improve in future.”