Sports Desk:

Bangladesh finished sixth in the Men’s Hockey Asia Cup following a 6-1 defeat against Japan – their biggest defeat of the campaign – in a place-deciding fixture in Bihar on Sunday.

The defeat leaves Bangladesh with the daunting task of facing a best-of three-match series against three-time Asia Cup winners Pakistan, who had opted out of the competition, for the lone remaining spot in World Cup Qualifiers.

Bangladesh had never faced Japan before in the Asia Cup but lost to them 5-0 in the 2021 Asian Champions Trophy and 7-2 in the 2023 Hangzhou Asian Games.

Japan scored two goals each in the first, third and fourth quarters while Bangladesh pulled one back five minutes from time, with Amirul Islam scoring the consolation goal for Moshiur Rahman Biplob’s charges. Ryosuke Shinohara scored a hattrick for Japan, who finished fifth in the competition.

Bangladesh played five matches in the competition overall, losing three – against Malaysia (1-4), South Korea (1-5), Japan (1-6) while beating Chinese Taipei (8-2) and Kazakhstan (5-1).

While the eventual outcome kept Bangladesh’s tradition of finishing sixth for the third Asia Cup on the trot, it must be mentioned the tournament did not feature former champions Pakistan as well as Oman, one of the rivals of Bangladesh.

In fact, Bangladesh were not supposed take part in this competition after having failed to qualify for the first time, but they were allowed entry following Pakistan’s withdrawal.

The team’s preparation was far from ideal as the team did not get to play any practice matches prior to going to India and the local leagues have not been held for the last one-and-a-half years.