Late Sun strike sinks Tigers’ U-20 Hockey

Even in the fourth quarter, the score remained locked at 2-2. Then came the heartbreak for Bangladesh’s Junior Men’s hockey side.

A late goal condemned Bangladesh U-20 to a 3-2 defeat against hosts China in their opening Junior Hockey Asia Cup match at the Moqi Training Base on Friday.

Playing in Pool B on Pitch-1, Bangladesh recovered from an early setback and took a 2-1 lead, but Jingran Sun’s 53rd-minute field goal settled a closely fought contest in China’s favour.

China captain Yubo Wang opened the scoring from a penalty corner in the sixth minute. Bangladesh responded within a minute, with Mohammad Islam firing home to restore parity.

The young Tigers grew in confidence and took control in the second quarter, with Hasan Mahadi putting them ahead with a field goal in the 26th minute.

Bangladesh held the advantage for much of the remainder of the match, frustrating the hosts before Wenxuan Qiu converted a penalty in the 44th minute to make it 2-2.

Sun then struck seven minutes from full time to put China ahead for the first time since the opening quarter. Bangladesh pushed for an equaliser but could not find a way through.

Bangladesh U-20 head coach Giles Bonnet felt his side had played well but rued a missed opportunity just before half-time that could have changed the complexion of the match.

“It was unfortunate we didn’t convert the corner that we had at the end of the first half. It was a good corner; the ball was placed just ahead of the player. So we would have gone 3-1 up at that stage; that would have been an important goal,” Bonnet said.

The South African coach did not see China’s winning goal as a major turning point, instead blaming inexperience for the mistake that led to it.

“I didn’t think there was a turning point. I think just the high ball, we should have played it and gone backwards... and then it would have been a free out for us. So just naivety, not having been in those situations too often,” he said.

Bonnet, however, was encouraged by Bangladesh’s overall performance.

“We created enough scoring chances. We didn’t give too many goal shots away. We gave corners away, but we were not outplayed in this game. So, I’m very happy with that,” he said.

“We had the corner at the end, and there it’s just about the small details. I think we could have made the 3-3 quite easily, and we should have kept out their 3-2. So, those details we need to improve going forward.”

Meanwhile, Bangladesh’s women’s U-20 side will begin their campaign against Chinese Taipei on Saturday.