Bangladesh failed to secure a place in next year鈥檚 FIH World Cup Qualifiers after suffering an 8-0 thrashing at the hands of Pakistan in their second of the three-match play-off series at the Maulana Bhasani National Hockey Stadium on Friday.
Earlier, in the first match on Thursday, Bangladesh lost by 8-2 goals to four-time World Cup winners Pakistan, who confirmed their qualifiers spot with their second consecutive win in the series.
The two teams will meet again for the final match of the series at the same venue on Sunday. This match is considered a dead rubber, as the outcome will not affect the overall series. The game is set to commence at 2:00 pm.
In a one-sided affair on Friday, Sufyan Khan (sixth, 19th) scored a brace from penalty corners, while Waheed Ashraf Rana (13th, 57th) scored two field goals.
Pakistan captain Ammad Butt (59th) and Waleed Rana (30th) scored once each from penalty corners, while Hannan Shahid (32nd) and Afraz (53rd) scored a field goal each to complete the rout.
Bangladesh player Obidul Hasan Joy termed the match as the best experience for the team against a far superior team.
鈥楶akistan are a very big name in hockey. We have a lot to learn from them; we are learning through this series, which means a lot to us. And personally, I feel today鈥檚 match that we played against Pakistan gave a new experience to us,鈥� said Joy after the match.
Sufyan Khan, who scored a brace for Pakistan in the second match, said, 鈥極ur main goal was to secure a spot in the qualifiers, and we completed that鈥�.And the way Bangladesh played against us, I think, inshallah, they will be a very good team in the near future.鈥�
