In the first match of the day, Bangladesh edged Oman 2-1 in Group B of the Asia Cup at the Gelora Bung Karno hockey pitch in Jakarta on Tuesday. Bangladesh took the lead off Islam Ashraful in the sixth minute, but Oman equalised off Al Fazari Rashad in the 17th minute. The winning goal was delivered by Mohamed Rakibul in the 40th minute.
“For both teams it was actually like a ‘final’ itself, and I am happy that my players won. We have met in two other finals this year and know each others playing style well,” said Bangladesh coach K. Gobinathan.
In March at the AHF Cup also in Jakarta, Bangladesh and Oman played to a 1-1 draw in the final but Bangladesh won the shoot-out 5-3. And in the Men’s Asian Games Qualifier Oman beat Bangladesh 6-2 in the final.
In Group A, Pakistan went on a scoring spree to beat Indonesia 13-0. The goals were scored by Ahmad Ajaz (2nd), Abdul Rana (4th, 17th), Abdul Manan (6th, 19th), Rizwan Ali (15th, 25th, 43rd), Ali Mubasar (16th), Ali Shan (19th), Ghanzafar Ali (35th), Shakeel Moin (45th) and Ahmad Ajaz (49th).
In another Group B match, Malaysia survived a South Korean come-back attempt to win 5-4. Malaysia took a 4-1 lead, but South Korea fought hard in the last two quarters and the match ended on a close note. The Malaysian goals were scored by Norsyafiq Sumantri (first, 27th), Razie Abd Rahim (17th, 52nd), and Ashran Hamsani (32nd). The Korean goalscorers were Yang Jihun (25th, 56th), Jang Jonghyun (34th), Kim Sunghyun (40th).
In the final match of the day, Japan beat India 5-2 in Group A. Japan scored off Ken Nagayoshi (24th), Kosei Kawabe (40th, 56th), Ooka Ryoma (49th) and Koji Yamasaki (54th). India got their goals off Pawan Rajbhar (45th) and Uttam Singh (50th).
