Dhaka – Bangladesh National Hockey team will play stronger South Korea in the 5th place-deciding match of the 18th Asian Games Men’s Hockey on Saturday (Sept 1) at the Gelora Bung Karno (GBK) Hockey field in Jakarta.Asian Hockey giant South Korea were out of the title race from Asiad Hockey finishing 3rd in Pool A after conceding an unexpected 2-3 goals defeat against lowly Japan in their last group match Tuesday evening.
Japan, which emerged as the surprised semifinalists as the Pool A runners-up, will play unbeaten Pool B champions Pakistan in the 2nd semifinal while defending champions India will face Pool B runners-up Malaysia in the first semifinal, both on Thursday.
Besides, the 7th place-deciding match between Oman and Sri Lanka and the 9th place-decider between hosts Indonesia and Thailand will also be held on Thursday.
Apart from 5th place decider, the gold medal deciding final, bronze medal deciding 3rd place match and 11th place deciding match between two lowly teams — Hong Kong and Kazakhstan– will also be held on Saturday (Sept 1).
Bangladesh finished 3rd in the six-team Pool B securing nine points from five matches with three wins and two defeats.
Pakistan clinched the Pool B title with all-win record securing full 15 points from five outings while Malaysia finished Pool B runners-up collecting 12 points from five matches to reach the semifinals.
In Pool A, India emerged group champions with all-win record securing full 15 points from five engagements, Japan finished group runners-up with 12 points upsetting South Korea by 3-2 goals in the last Pool A match Tuesday. South Korea finished 3rd collecting nine points.
Earlier, Bangladesh Hockey team achieved their initial target of finishing 6th in the 12-team 18th Asian Games Men’s Hockey beating Oman 2-1, Kazakhstan 6-1 , Thailand 3-1, despite losing to Malaysia 0-7 and Pakistan 0-5 in the Pool B outings.
Bangladesh also got an opportunity to play directly in the final round of the Asian Games and Asia Cup Hockey from the next time avoiding qualifying round.UNB
