Bangladesh suffered a crushing 8-2 defeat to Pakistan in the first of the three-match play-off series, which offers a spot to the FIH World Cup Qualifiers at the Maulana Bhasani National Hockey Stadium in the city on Thursday.
The second match of the series will begin at 3:00pm today, and the third and final match will be played at 2:00pm at the same venue on Sunday.聽聽
Bangladesh now must win the remaining two matches against four-time World Cup champions Pakistan to secure their place at the FIH Men鈥檚 Hockey World Cup qualifiers, scheduled for February and March next year.
Pakistan captain Ammad Butt gave his side the lead in the fourth minute by scoring from a penalty stroke, while Bangladesh returned to the game in the first quarter with Hozifa Hossain scoring a field goal in the 15th minute.
Pakistan came back strong as they struck three goals each in the second and third quarters and added once more in the final quarter before Amirul Islam pulled another by scoring from penalty corner in the 58th minute.
Ahmad Nadeem (19th, 56th) scored a brace off field goals, Afraz scored once from a penalty corner in the 24th minute before firing net with a field goal in the 30th minute, while Ghazanfar Ali (32nd), Waheed Ashraf Rana (44th) and Hannan Shahid (47th) scored one field goal each.
Bangladesh captain Rezaul Karim Babu expressed disappointment after their game.
鈥榃e were not ready for an 8-2 defeat. We could not perform according to our plan. The margin could have been reduced鈥e also conceded three to four goals due to technical mistakes,鈥� said Babu.
鈥楾he main problem was our failure to control Pakistan鈥檚 counter-attacks due to individual errors, which led to the goals. But our overall team structure was fine,鈥� he added.
