Bangladesh national hockey team conceded an 8-2 defeat against Pakistan in the first of the three-match play-off series held at Maulana Bhashani Hockey Stadium in Dhaka on Thursday.
Afraz and Nadeem Ahmad scored twice each, while Ammad Butt, Ghazanfar Ali, Waheed Ashraf Rana, and Hannan Shahid added one each for the visiting Pakistan team.
Hozifa Hossain and Amirul Islam scored one each for the home side.
Bangladesh blocked three Pakistan attacks within the first minute. The momentum shifted as skipper Ammad put the visitors ahead in the fourth minute from a penalty stroke.
Roman Sarkar suffered an injury to head while conceding the penalty stroke. He was taken off the pitch on a stretcher and couldn’t recover to return to action. He was also taken to the hospital soon afterward.
Hozifa raised some hopes for a brief period when he leveled the margin with a fierce reverse hit at the dying moment of the first quarter.
Ahmad Nadeem took the lead again for Pakistan following a goal-mouth scramble in the 19th minute with an easy hit inches away from the goal line.
Afraz first scored from a penalty corner (PC) in the 24th minute before adding another with a field goal six minutes later. Pakistan’s all other goals came from field goals.
Bangladesh earned their first PC in the 36th minute, followed by another within two minutes, but couldn’t convert either. They converted their fifth PC through Amirul in the 58th minute.
Captain Rezaul Karim Babu admitted that they couldn’t play according to the plan and conceded goals due to individual mistakes. He hoped to perform better in the next matches.
The second match of the series will be played on Friday, followed by the third and final game on Sunday. All matches will take place at the Maulana Bhashani Hockey Stadium.
The winner of the series will qualify for the FIH Hockey Men’s World Cup Qualification Tournaments, scheduled to take place in 2026.
Starting Xl
Bangladesh: Kujur Biplob; Ashraful Islam, Shetul Farhad, Roman Sarkar, Tanvir Siyam, Rakibul Hasan, Rezaul Babu, Md Shuvo, Arshad Hossain, Mahedi Hasan, Sohanur Sabuj
Pakistan: Muneeb Ur-Rehman; Sufyan Khan, Moin Shakeel, Hannan Shahid, Zikriya Hayat, Arshad Liaqat, Ghazanfar Ali, Ammad Butt, Abdul Rehman, Waleed Rana, Manan Abdul
