UNB, Dhaka :
Bangladesh Men’s Under-21 Hockey team emerged Pool-A champions to reach the semi-finals of the Junior AHF Cup (U-21) Hockey tournament with an all-win record, crushing Indonesia by 7-0 in the last pool match at the Sengkang Sports Centre in Singapore on Thursday afternoon.
After all four Pool-A matches, Bangladesh clinched the top slot, securing a full 12 points, while Thailand finished runners-up with nine points to qualify for the semi-final.
In Pool B, China clinched the title with an all-win run, securing a full 15 points from five straight matches, while Chinese Taipei finished runners up with 12 points from five matches to reach the semi-final.
Defending champions Bangladesh will play the first semifinal against the Pool-B runners-up, Chinese Taipei, while the Pool-B champions China will play Pool-A runners-up Thailand in the 2nd semifinal, both on Saturday (June 22).
In the day’s last Pool-A match, Bangladesh scored four goals in a row in the first quarter of 15 minutes against Indonesia.
Mohammad Abdullah put the Bangladesh team ahead in the very 3rd minute with a field goal (1-0), captain Mehrab Hassan Samin doubled the margin in the 7th minute from a penalty corner (2-0), and Vice-Captain Amirul Islam scored the 3rd goal for Bangladesh in the 9th minute from a penalty corner (3-0).
Din Islam further sounded the Bangladesh margin in the 13th minute by a field goal (4-0), Mohammad Jibon scored the 5th goal in the 32nd minute (5-0), Mohammad Abdullah scored his 2nd and the 6th goal for Bangladesh in the 54th minute (7-0), while Mohammad Islam sealed the fate of the match scoring 7th goal in the 60th minute (7-0).
With the day’s lone goal, Amirul.Islam of Bangladesh dominates the scorer list of the meet with seven individual goals, including a hat-trick against hosts Singapore.
Earlier, the Bangladesh team made a flying start, crushing hosts Singapore 7-0, beating Sri Lanka 5-0, and defeating Thailand by 4-2 goals in their Pool-A engagements.