Bangladesh settle for sixth after China defeat

Bangladesh finished sixth in the Hero Asian Champions Trophy Punjab 2026 after suffering a 3-1 defeat to China in the fifth-place playoff in Mohali on Wednesday.

China took control of the match early, scoring three goals in the opening half. Zhang Jialiang opened the scoring in the 10th minute before Wang Yaqi doubled the lead eight minutes later. Chen Chongcong then converted a penalty stroke in the 22nd minute to put China firmly in command.

Bangladesh managed to pull one back in the 48th minute through a penalty corner converted by Rahman Md Shohanur. However, the goal came too late to inspire a comeback as China held on to secure the victory.

Bangladesh head coach Peter Gerhard admitted that his side's biggest weakness remained their inability to convert scoring opportunities, despite showing improvement in their overall performance.

"We have a big problem to score and we have a goalkeeper problem, which was today not such a big problem. We had nine penalty corners, which normally is our strength," Gerhard said after the match.

He acknowledged that China had studied Bangladesh's penalty-corner routines and defended them effectively, particularly against Aiman and Amrul.

Despite the defeat, the German coach praised his players' fitness, fighting spirit and morale, particularly after Bangladesh were reduced to 10 men in the final 15 minutes.

"We were dominating the match with 10 people, and we were fighting like crazy. The morale of the team is very good," he said.

Gerhard believes the team needs more international exposure, suggesting another one or two tournaments and regular matches in Germany or elsewhere in Europe could help Bangladesh progress.