Hockey girls secure ninth as mats turn sour

Bangladesh claimed ninth place in women's hockey with a shootout win over Singapore on a day of mixed results at the Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya on Friday. While golfer Siddikur Rahman stayed steady in the third round, the country's athletes suffered quick defeats on the wrestling and judo mats.

Hockey win, Bangladesh ninth

The women's hockey team defeated Singapore to finish ninth overall in the Asian Games. The playoff match at the Gifu Prefectural Green Stadium ended in a tight 1-1 draw in regulation time, before Bangladesh held their nerve to win 2-1 in a penalty shootout.

Airin Akter Riya gave Bangladesh a perfect start, scoring in the 10th minute to take a 1-0 lead into half-time. Singapore piled on the pressure in the second half and equalised in the 44th minute from a penalty corner. With no further goals in normal time, the match went to a shootout, where Bangladesh secured a 2-1 victory to seal ninth place.

Siddikur 213, Badal 215 in golf

The third round of the men's individual and team golf events wrapped up at the Kasugai Country Club's East Course. Experienced golfer Mohammad Siddikur Rahman remains the frontrunner among the Bangladeshi players, followed closely by Badal Hossain and Jamal Hossain.

Siddikur holds a three-round total of 213. After shooting 69 and 71 in his opening rounds, he carded a 73 on Friday to sit at three-under-par for the tournament. Badal Hossain is just two shots behind with a total of 215. Badal opened with a 71 and shot a brilliant 68 in the second round, but fell back slightly with a 76 in the third.

Meanwhile, Jamal Hossain sits on a total score of 218, having shot 75, 69, and 74. All three Bangladeshi golfers will now look ahead to the final round.

Sattar exits in wrestling

Abdul Sattar's run in the men's 65kg freestyle wrestling came to a swift end. He crashed out in the last 16, suffering a 10-0 defeat to Saudi Arabia's Abdul Latif Mohammed H Albakri. Sattar had earlier shown promise by comfortably beating Nepal's Ram Kishor Yadav 10-0 in his opening bout.

Abanika eliminated in judo

Much like the wrestling events, Bangladesh faced early exits in judo. Abanika Hasan was knocked out of the women's under-78kg weight class after a heavy 100-0 defeat to Uzbekistan's Barchinoy Kadirova. Earlier in the day, Khademul Hasan Milu also bowed out, losing his match against Qatar's Sukhrob Bukiev in the men's 66kg category.