Oman down Bangladesh in 5-goal thriller

Host fail to keep lead twice

Bangladesh suffered another shocking loss when they conceded a 2-3 defeat to Oman in the well contested third and last Pool-A encounter in the 2017 Men Hockey World League Round-2 at the Maulana Bhasani National Hockey Stadium in the capital yesterday.   

By losing the match, Bangladesh’s high hopes of stepping into semi-final fell into a huge challenge as now they have to compete against high-ranked Egypt (fourteenth in World rankings) in the second quarterfinal of the international phase.
The match will be held at the same venue at 4 pm on Thursday. If they could win the match against Oman, it would then be a bit easier for them to go into the semifinal berths. In that case, the home side had to clash against Ghana, against whose Bangladesh played three practice matches prior to the showcase tournament.
Back to the match, both Bangladesh and Oman at the initial seventh minutes launched attack and counter-attack but the local side realised two consecutive penalty corners on eight and nine minutes respectively. After missing the opening efforts, Mamunur Rahman Chayan converted the second and put Bangladesh ahead (1-0).
Just five minutes after Oman got the first penalty stroke when shot-stopper Asim Gope wrongly handled the fast-pace Omanese mid-fielder Ashraf Al Nasseri and then skipper Mohammed Bait Jandal comfortably converted the goal to restore the parity (1-1).
Two minutes after the short breather of the initial 15-minute, Bangladesh once again got opportunity to take lead when Roman Sarkar entered into the D-box from the left flank after receiving pass from skipper Russell Mahmud Jimmy and struck the field goal (2-1).
At this stage, Bangladesh were seemed to be more disorganised while they could not mark opponent players and defence were also too much vulnarable what Oman capitalised properly. The visiting side scored two successive goals on 25th and 26th minutes respectively, first of which scored by Muhanna Al Hasani in second attempt (2-2) though substitute goal-keeper Zahid Hossain defended the first attempt.  Khaled Al Batashi, who was unmarked on the edge of the left frank, scored the second after receiving a pass from skipper Ashraf Al Nasseri to take the lead (3-2).
In the third period, Bangladesh maintained their domination and produced two scoring chances that came from Arshad Hossain, whose powerful shot went over the post. Then Jimmy’s attempt also went beside the side post.
Bangladesh desperately tried to level the margin in the last quarter but all of those were too much weak which drew much criticism from all the corners.          
In day’s other matches, Malaysia thrashed Fiji by 11-1, China trumped Sri Lanka by 5-1 and Egypt beat Ghana by 2-4 goals in penalty shootout after the full time locked in 1-1.   

Oman down Bangladesh in 5-goal thriller

Host fail to keep lead twice

Bangladesh suffered another shocking loss when they conceded a 2-3 defeat to Oman in the well contested third and last Pool-A encounter in the 2017 Men Hockey World League Round-2 at the Maulana Bhasani National Hockey Stadium in the capital yesterday. By losing the match, Bangladeshs high hopes of stepping into semi-final fell into a huge challenge as now they have to compete against high-ranked Egypt (fourteenth in World rankings) in the second quarterfinal of the international phase. The match will be held at the same venue at 4 pm on Thursday. If they could win the match against Oman, it would then be a bit easier for them to go into the semifinal berths. In that case, the home side had to clash against Ghana, against whose Bangladesh played three practice matches prior to the showcase tournament. Back to the match, both Bangladesh and Oman at the initial seventh minutes launched attack and counter-attack but the local side realised two consecutive penalty corners on eight and nine minutes respectively. After missing the opening efforts, Mamunur Rahman Chayan converted the second and put Bangladesh ahead (1-0). Just five minutes after Oman got the first penalty stroke when shot-stopper Asim Gope wrongly handled the fast-pace Omanese mid-fielder Ashraf Al Nasseri and then skipper Mohammed Bait Jandal comfortably converted the goal to restore the parity (1-1). Two minutes after the short breather of the initial 15-minute, Bangladesh once again got opportunity to take lead when Roman Sarkar entered into the D-box from the left flank after receiving pass from skipper Russell Mahmud Jimmy and struck the field goal (2-1). At this stage, Bangladesh were seemed to be more disorganised while they could not mark opponent players and defence were also too much vulnarable what Oman capitalised properly. The visiting side scored two successive goals on 25th and 26th minutes respectively, first of which scored by Muhanna Al Hasani in second attempt (2-2) though substitute goal-keeper Zahid Hossain defended the first attempt. Khaled Al Batashi, who was unmarked on the edge of the left frank, scored the second after receiving a pass from skipper Ashraf Al Nasseri to take the lead (3-2). In the third period, Bangladesh maintained their domination and produced two scoring chances that came from Arshad Hossain, whose powerful shot went over the post. Then Jimmys attempt also went beside the side post. Bangladesh desperately tried to level the margin in the last quarter but all of those were too much weak which drew much criticism from all the corners. In days other matches, Malaysia thrashed Fiji by 11-1, China trumped Sri Lanka by 5-1 and Egypt beat Ghana by 2-4 goals in penalty shootout after the full time locked in 1-1.