Bangladesh made history as they qualified for the Men鈥檚 Junior Hockey World Cup for the first time in history with a 7-2 win over Thailand in a place-deciding (fifth-eighth) match of the ongoing Junior Asia Cup 2024 at the Al Amerat Hockey Stadium in Muscat, Oman, on Tuesday.
The Bangladesh Under-21 team will now face the winners between South Korea and China on Wednesday to decide whether they will finish fifth or sixth in the Junior Asia Cup, from where the top six teams will play in next year's 24-team Junior World Cup to be held in India.
Bangladesh took the lead in the third minute, courtesy of a flick from Obaidul Hossain Joy before Amirul Islam converted a penalty corner in the sixth minute.
Mohammad Abdullah made it 3-0 with a simple tap-in in the first minute of the second quarter before Thailand pressed hard to pull one back by converting a penalty corner on the stroke of half-time.
After the resumption, Thailand showed signs of bouncing back, but Bangladesh silenced them by scoring three more goals through Mehedi Hasan Ovi, Saddam Khan, and Joy in the third quarter, while Thailand too scored another goal from a penalty corner.
Bangladesh wrapped up the victory with another goal from Abdullah in the final quarter to write a piece of history in the country's hockey history.