Sports Desk:

Bangladesh retained the title of the Men’s Junior AHF Cup for the second time after beating China by 4-2 goals in the final of the 2024 edition in Singapore on Sunday.

The men’s junior hockey team last year clinched the title beating Oman by 7(1)-6(1) goals, they even beat the same opponents by 4-0 goals to clinch their maiden title of this age-level event in the 2014 edition.

On Sunday, Rakibul Hasan scored a brace while vice-captain Amirul Islam and Obidul Hossain Joy netted one goal each for Bangladesh.

JialongLuo and Xianzhen Chen reduced the gap for China scoring one goal each.  Bangladesh previously confirmed their spot in the upcoming Men’s Hockey Junior Asia Cup 2024 when they became table-toppers in the five-team Pool A and reached the semifinals with an all win record.

The three other semifinalists – Chinese Taipei, China, Thailand and Oman – also qualified for the Junior Asia Cup.

Bangladesh women’s junior hockey team became runners-up after beating hosts Singapore by 7-1 goals in their last league match of the Women’s Junior AHF Cup 2024 which was also held in Singapore on the same day.

The women’s team earlier qualified for the first time for the upcoming Women’s Hockey Junior Asia Cup 2024.

Taipei, Thailand, Sri Lanka and Hong Kong China also qualified as they ranked in the top 5 of the 7-team table.

NadiraEma scored a brace while SanjidaMoni, Kona Akter, Airin Riya, Sonia Khatun and Orpita Pal added one each. Lana Saiful netted the consolation goal for Singapore.