Rajgir: Bangladesh achieved a comfortable 5-1 victory over Kazakhstan in the fifth-eighth place semi-finals of the Hero Men’s Asia Cup Hockey at the Bihar Sports University Hockey Stadium in Rajgir, India. With this win, Bangladesh advances to face Japan in the fifth and sixth place-deciding match scheduled for Sunday, September 7, at the same venue.
According to Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha, Ashraful Islam opened the scoring for Bangladesh by converting a penalty corner in the 10th minute of the first quarter. He extended the lead in the second quarter with a penalty stroke in the 23rd minute. Roman Sarkar further increased the margin with a field goal in the 28th minute and added another goal for Bangladesh by converting a penalty corner in the 33rd minute. Tayab Ali scored a field goal in the 34th minute, making the score 5-0 in favor of Bangladesh. Kazakhstan’s Aitkaliyev managed to reduce the deficit with a field goal in the 38th minute.
Earlier in the tournament, Bangladesh was eliminated from the title race, finishing third in Group B with three points. They suffered a 4-1 loss to Malaysia in their opening match but bounced back with an 8-3 win over Chinese Taipei. In their final group match, Bangladesh faced a 5-1 defeat against five-time champions South Korea.