Bangladesh tasted their first win in the 12th AHF Men鈥檚 Asia Cup as they beat Chinese Taipei 8-3 in their Pool B second match at the Bihar Sports University Hockey Stadium in Rajgir, India, on Saturday.
Forwards Abdullah, Rakibul Hasan and defender Ashraful Islam each scored a brace, while captain and defender Rezaul Karim Babu and Sohanur Rahman Sabuj added the other two goals for Bangladesh in the eight-nation tournament.
Hsieh Tsung-Yu and Shih Tsung-Jen reduced the gap for Taipei, who suffered a 7-0 thrashing to holders South Korea on Friday, by scoring two and one goal, respectively.
Bangladesh, who started their campaign with a 4-1 loss to Malaysia, were in third place in the table behind South Korea.
The day鈥檚 first quarter ended in 1-1, with Abdullah scoring a field goal in the fourth minute before Hsieh equalised six minutes later.
Taipei took the lead in the 18th minute with a penalty corner strike from Hsieh, but Abdullah scored another field goal to level the margin in the 26th minute.
Bangladesh added four more goals in the third quarter, starting with Sabuj鈥檚 penalty corner conversion in the 36th minute. This was followed by two field goals from Rakibul in the 42nd minute, and Ashraful scored from another penalty corner in the 45th minute.
Babu and Ashraful made it 8-2, as both scored from penalty corners in the 56th and 58th minutes, respectively, before Shih reduced the margin, scoring from a penalty corner in the final minute of the stipulated 60 minutes.
Bangladesh will play their pool final against the five-time champions, South Korea, at the same venue on Monday.
