Bangladesh scrape past Thailand
The Bangladesh hockey team were made to sweat for a 3-1 win over Thailand yesterday which all but ensured their bid for a place in the fifth-sixth place decider.
Defender Ashraful Islam scored twice from penalty corners while Milon Hossain scored the other for the men in red and green, who were made to work hard for their victory.
The win almost ensures Bangladesh will finish no lower than third in Pool B, which will set up a fifth-sixth place decider against the third-placed side from Pool A.
However, a win against eight-time champions Pakistan will see them through to the last four while a massive-margin defeat against Pakistan and a shock win for Oman against Malaysia might see them miss out on the third spot from the pool.
A fifth- or sixth-place finish will exempt Bangladesh from having to take part in the qualifiers of the next Asian Games and next Asia Cup while a fifth-place finish will enable them to take part in the next Asian Champions Trophy for the first time.
While Bangladesh achieved their target of beating Thailand, the manner of the victory hardly pleased coach Gobinathan Krishnamurthy. The coach also credited the Thailand players for making it tough for his side.
“We played at a much lower level than normal today, but Thailand also made it hard for us. They are one of the strongest sides defensively and they have improved immensely,” said the Malaysian after the match at the Gelora Bung Karno Stadium hockey field in Jakarta.
Bangladesh were kept at bay by the side ranked 16 places lower than them throughout the entire first half. Krishnamurthy's charges failed to earn a single penalty corner in this time while Thailand won four consecutive penalty corners towards the end of the half, the third of which came off the crossbar while the fourth was blocked by goalkeeper Abu sayeed Nippon.
Bangladesh earned their first penalty corner in the 35th minute, and penalty corner specialist Ashraful Islam made no mistake to place it at the back of the board, beating the opposition goalkeeper to his right. He doubled Bangladesh's lead from the second penalty corner six minutes later, picking the left-top corner of the net this time.
The men in red and green should have got a third before the end of the third quarter, but Milon Hossain's shot from in front of goal went straight at the goalkeeper.
Thailand though were rewarded in the 48th minute for an enterprising play when Borirak Harpan dinked the ball over Nippon while taking a tumble after being fed through by Nisman Maseela.
Bangladesh however, ensured the victory in the 54th minute when Milon parried the ball from the goalline after Rasel Mahmud Jimmy's shot was half-blocked by the Thailand goalkeeper.
Ashraful admitted that the penalty corner conversion made the difference in the game. “They could not capitalise on their penalty corners but we scored from both the penalty corners we earned. So it was the penalty corners that eventually won us the game,” Ashraful said.
