Japan spilled water over all the hard work of the Bangladesh hockey team as the latter were crushed by the title contenders 8-0 in their opening match of the 17th Asian Games at the Seonhak Hockey Stadium in Korea yesterday.
The defeat also meant the hope of finishing 5th or 6th in the event got slimmer for Bangladesh who have been preparing for the Games for the last three months. Though Bangladesh won the World Hockey League Round-1, facing Sri Lanka and Hong Kong, the 30th ranked side were not able to trouble their stronger opponent at all.
It was also Bangladesh’s second biggest defeat under the 13-month reign of Bangladesh’s Pakistani head coach Naveed Alam as the 0-9 defeat to South Korea in the Asia Cup hockey last year tops the chart.
Bangladesh began poorly and the situation went from bad to worse as the match rolled on. They conceded five goals in the first three quarters of 45 minutes and three more in the fourth and final quarter. Despite winning five penalty corners Bangladesh possessed zero threat.
Substitute goalkeeper Abu Sayeed Nippon, who replaced Hockey World League hero Ashim Gope, made five brilliant saves to save further blushes.
“It is totally an unexpected result. Japan are 13th in the ranking and they are obviously stronger than us but I expected the margin should be 5-2,” said Naveed after the match.
Bangladesh will play their second group match against Malaysia today before facing Singapore on September 23.
Meanwhile In the other events, Bangladesh shooters also staged a poor display as Armin Asha finished 33rd among 52 shooters in the women’s 10meter air pistol event while her compatriots Ardina Ferdous and Sinthia Naznin Tumpa completed in 40th and 41st positions respectively.
Kim Jangmi of South Korea clinched gold medal while her compatriot Jung Jeehae won the silver as Guo Wenjun of China secured bronze.
In the trap men’s qualifying round, Bangladesh’s Quaysoor Miah finished 45th among 46 competitors.
On the other hand, 10 Bangladeshi weightlifters, who participated in a 10-day training camp in Incheon provided by South Korean Weightlifting Federation, were included in the Asian Games contingent just a day before the opening ceremony.
Mollah Sabira Sultana and Mostain Billah are scheduled to take part in the women’s 53kg and men’s 62kg weight category respectively today.
