Bangladesh clinch third AHF Cup in a row

The indomitable Bangladesh side made it a hattrick of titles when they emerged as the unbeaten champion in the Asian Hockey Federation Cup, outplaying Sri Lanka 3-0 in the grand finale at King's Park Stadium in Hong Kong on Sunday. Bangladesh's title win meant they would get direct entry into next year’s Men's Asia Cup, scheduled to be held from late September to early October. Hasan Jubair Niloy gave Bangladesh the breakthrough in the 22nd minute before young drag-and-flick hero Ashraful Islam doubled the lead in the 61st minute from a penalty corner.AHM Kamruzzaman sealed victory six minutes later when he converted another penalty corner. Bangladesh are the only country in the history of the AHF Cup who won the title three times in a row. The men in red and green claimed the last two editions in 2012 and 2008 in Thailand and Singapore respectively. Bangladesh also maintained their hundred percent winning record in the tournament. Earlier, they began their group stage campaign beating hosts Hong Kong 4-2 before defeating Chinese Taipei by the same scoreline. They thrashed Macau 13-0 in their final group tie to finish as Pool A champions.Bangladesh then outplayed Singapore 8-0 in the last-four classification match. Meanwhile, Hong Kong defeated Singapore 2-1 to seal third place.RESULTBangladesh 3 (Niloy 22, Ashraful 61, Kamruzzaman 67) 0 Sri LankaBangladesh's goalscorers in the 2016 AHF Cup - Ashraful Islam (nine goals), Russel Mahmud Jimmy, Mamunur Rahman Chayan and Romman Sarkar (four each), Sarwar Hossain (three), Hasan Jubair Niloy (two), Khorshedur Rahman, Mainul Islam Koushik, Milon Hossain, Pushkor Khisa Mimo, Krishno Kumar and Kamruzzaman (one each)