Bangladesh hockey team survived a major scare of missing out on the Asian Games, edging Hong Kong 3-2 in a tense shootout in the Men’s Asian Games Qualifiers in Bangkok yesterday.
The result ensured Bangladesh at least a sixth-place finish -- enough to qualify for the 2026 Asian Games in Japan, with the top six teams progressing. They will now face Chinese Taipei tomorrow in a fifth-place playoff.
Bangladesh have never missed the Asian Games, with the men in red and green finishing either champions or runners-up in the last three editions of the Men’s Asian Games Qualifiers.
“Winning the match against Hong Kong was like a stone being removed from our chests, because playing in the Asian Games has always been a matter of pride for Bangladesh,” forward Rakibul Hossain told The Daily Star from Thailand after the match.
The 2014 champions, who finished runners-up to Oman in 2018 and 2022, failed to reach the semifinals this time after being held to a 1-1 draw by Uzbekistan in their third and final pool match, leaving them in a must-win situation against Hong Kong.
“I think missing out on the Asian Games would have sunk our hockey, and we would not have been able to show our faces,” Rakibul said.
“We could not hold on to the lead time and again because of silly mistakes, while the hot and humid weather in Thailand was another reason behind such a performance.”
Goalkeeper and vice-captain Biplob Kujur proved decisive in the shootout, saving three successive attempts -- apart from the first and fifth -- before captain Fazle Rabby converted the final shot to seal the 3-2 win and send Bangladesh through.
“If I could have converted the first shot, the shootout could have been easier for Bangladesh, but I dragged it wide on the dry pitch despite beating the goalkeeper,” said Rakibul, who also pointed to the lack of practice matches as a major drawback.
“Before coming into the Qualifiers, Oman trained in Germany, Indonesia trained in Australia, and China and Sri Lanka came into the tournament after completing their domestic leagues, while we only had training sessions and could not assess ourselves through warm-up matches.”
Bangladesh had started brightly, taking a two-goal lead within the first five minutes through Rakibul and Amirul Islam, who scored from open play and a penalty stroke respectively.
However, defensive frailties allowed Hong Kong back into the contest. They pulled one back in the sixth minute from a penalty corner, before Ishtiaq Ahmed equalised in the 32nd minute, also from a set-piece.
Ashraful Islam restored Bangladesh’s lead in the 41st minute with a penalty-corner strike, but it lasted only five minutes as Kuldeep Singh equalised in the 46th minute from open play.
The fourth quarter brought more drama. Ashraful struck again from a penalty corner in the 48th minute, but Hong Kong responded almost immediately, with IU Flexi Chi Him converting a penalty stroke in the same minute to make it 4-4.
With nothing separating the sides, the match went to a shootout, where Biplob stood tall to guide Bangladesh back to the Asian Games.
