Bangladesh suffer 7-0 loss yet again as India march on

Bangladesh conceded yet another defeat of 7-0, this time against two-time champion India in their second Pool A match in the Hero Asia Cup 2017 at Maulana Bhasani National Hockey Stadium Friday. With only a game remaining in the group stage for Bangladesh, the home side ended their slightest hope of finishing among the top two from Pool A. They must beat Japan tomorrow in their third match to avoid finishing bottom. Bangladesh so far have faced two former champion - Pakistan and India - against whom they had little expectation of getting something out of the game but the rest of the matches, including the classification round will determine the host's position in Asia's biggest hockey event that returned to Dhaka after 32 years. Bangladesh finished sixth back in 1985. Bangladesh's performance in the first half was better compared to the latter half against Pakistan but the opposite happened against their neighbour. Bangladesh looked a bit organised inside the opening five minutes but failed to carry the momentum in the rest of the first quarter conceding three goals in six minutes. The defence appeared vulnerable against the fast and furious Indian attacks. Abu Nippon, who started ahead of first-choice goalkeeper Asim Gope, began the game brightly with a brilliant save three minutes into the clock, denying a pierce hit of Akashdeep Singh.

#AsiaCup2017 #INDvBAN

Harmanpreet Singh extends India's lead to 7-0 against Bangladesh in the fourth quarter?https://t.co/R5blUTNrm9 — TOI Sports (@toisports) October 13, 2017

Gurjant Singh gave the visitor the lead in the seventh minute, placing the ball into the net following a cross from Uthappa Sannuvanda. Akashdeep doubled the lead in the 11th minute beating Nippon from a goal-mouth scramble. Lalit Upadhyay extended the lead two minutes later hitting the backboard following a short pass from Akashdeep. India earned their first penalty corner in the 14th minute. They earned a total of 14 penalty corners throughout the game but managed to convert only two of them. Amit Rohidas extended the lead to 4-0 in the 20th minute, connecting home a hit from Gurjant from the left side. Bangladesh conceded four consecutive penalty corners in the 22nd minute but managed to protect the post on all occasions. Bangladesh had their first real chance in the 23rd minute when captain Russel Mahmud Jimmy failed to control the ball at the middle of the d-box after being set up by Arshad Hossain. Harmanpreet Singh scored from the first penalty stroke of the game in the 28th minute.

Well done Pakistan on the 2-2 draw against Japan in the Hockey Asia Cup. Japan are much improved now. We go again vs India. #AsiaCup2017

— Javed Afridi (@JAfridi10) October 13, 2017

India earned three more penalty corners within three minutes into the third quarter and consequently missed all of them. Bangladesh put up an improved performance in the third quarter conceding no goals. The fourth and final quarter started with Ramandeep Singh scoring within a minute from a penalty corner. It was India's first goal from nine penalty corners. They got three more PCs within a minute as Harmanpreet scored his second from their 12th penalty corner to make the scoreline 7-0. "I think it was a much improved performance than the previous match. In the first match, we accepted defeat before the game ended but [yesterday] we fought against India throughout the game. If that wasn’t the case, we could have conceded more goals. They managed to score only two from 14 PCs which I think is a positive aspect of the team," said Jimmy after the match. Pakistan, Japan share spoils Meanwhile in the other game of the day at the same venue, Pakistan and Japan played out a thrilling 2-2 draw in their second Pool A match.

Hockey: India warm up for Pakistan clash with dominant 7-0 win over Bangladesh in #AsiaCup https://t.co/B81EvpFumO pic.twitter.com/1xIwq7hzSG

— The Field (@thefield_in) October 13, 2017

After the first quarter ended goalless, Muhammad Arslan Qadir put Pakistan ahead in the 16th minute from a penalty corner before Kenta Tanaka cancelled the lead six minutes later. Japan went ahead in the game a minute before the half-hour mark through Heita Yoshihhara. They showed some good defensive skills in the third quarter to keep out Pakistan’s efforts of equalising as the teams finished the third quarter with the scoreboard reading 2-1 in Japan’s favour. But it was the fourth quarter when Muhammad Umar Bhutta netted in the 50th minute to restore parity. In Saturday's Pool B matches, Oman will face China in the first game at 3pm while South Korea take on Malaysia in the second match at 5:30pm. RESULTS Bangladesh 0 7 India (Gurjant 7, Akashdeep 11, Lalit 13, Amit 20, Harmanpreet 28 - P, 47, Ramandeep 46) Pakistan 2 (Qadir 16, Bhutta 50) 2 Japan (Kenta 22, Heita 30)   SATURDAY'S MATCHES China v Oman, 3pm South Korea v Malaysia, 5:30pm