Hosts finish sixth

Hosts Bangladesh had to be content with a sixth-place finish in the Hero Asia Cup after suffering a 4-0 defeat against Japan in a place-deciding match at the Maulana Bhasani Hockey Stadium yesterday.

The home side had an opportunity to regain the fifth position having done so only once before, which was in the inaugural edition of the tournament held in 1982. But the men in red and green failed to replicate previous night's spirited performance against China and completed the campaign in sixth position, a feat they had last achieved in the sixth edition in 1999.

Interestingly, Bangladesh achieved their target with a single win while Japan, despite three wins, finished one place above the hosts.  

The match began 30 minutes later than scheduled time due to heavy downpour. The hosts, who started the match less than 20 hours after their win against China, looked fatigued and lacklustre against a side that had a day's rest since their win against Oman on Wednesday.

The home side showed some character in the first quarter before conceding the lead at the start of the second quarter when Yamada Shota's weak push following a penalty corner hit the board in between defender Mamunur Rahman Chayan and goalkeeper Abu Nippon.

It should have been a wake-up call for the hosts, but they could not lift their performance as Japan looked much more determined compared to their pool match against Bangladesh and held the control of the game till the last minute.

Many had expected Bangladesh would stage a strong comeback in the fourth quarter like they did against China, but Mahbub Harun's charges looked most vulnerable during the last quarter, conceding three field goals.

“We had a good start but could not maintain it,” said captain Rasel Mahmud Jimmy, who however ruled out fatigue as the reason for the big defeat. He, however, admitted that they could have prepared better had they got a one-day rest.

“If you consider only from margin of defeats, our performances were poor, but we have achieved our target,” said Jimmy.

Experienced defender Chayan said that they are not happy with their overall performance and that they should have played better.

“If we want to produce good performances against India, Pakistan and Japan, we actually need to play more practice matches against strong teams. Only then everything including mental strength will improve,” said Chayan.

“It was not an easy match for us but the boys played a very disciplined game and did not allow Bangladesh by putting heavy pressure on them from the beginning because we took the match seriously to achieve our target of finishing fifth,” Japan coach Siegfried Aikman said.

Meanwhile, China finished seventh after a 3-2 win over Oman in the 7th-8th position-deciding match last night. Oman finished bottom with five defeats in five matches.