Updated

Jun 24, 2024, 01:05 AM

Published

Jun 24, 2024, 12:04 AM

SINGAPORE – When his team needed a hero to step up, Bangladesh’s Rakibul Hasan duly obliged for the second year running as the 20-year-old played a pivotal role in their Men’s Junior Asian Hockey Federation (AHF) Cup triumph again.

While his equaliser in the 2023 final against hosts Oman forced a penalty shoot-out which Bangladesh won 7-6, his heroics in the 2024 edition in Singapore helped them seal the title in quicker fashion.

With two early field goals, he lifted his team to a 4-2 victory over China in the final on June 23 at the Sengkang Hockey Stadium.

Hasan’s brace, which sandwiched a penalty corner conversion by Amirul Islam, settled their nerves. While China fought back to narrow the deficit through Luo Jialong and Chen Xianzhen, Obaidul Hossain Joy added a fourth for the holders.

In the process, Bangladesh have also qualified for the Junior Asia Cup along with the other top-five teams. Hasan said: “These feelings are good. We came to this tournament to win and we did. So now we focus on the Junior Asia Cup. I can’t express the feelings I have now in words.”

He added that he wants to learn “something special” from strong teams such as India, Malaysia and Pakistan at the continental competition, where Bangladesh coach Ashiquzzaman said they will be “fighting for a top-six finish”.

The Junior Asia Cup will also serve as qualifiers for the 2025 Junior World Cup in India and Hasan hopes Bangladesh will finally make their debut.

“My dream is to qualify for the Junior World Cup, because Bangladesh have never played in this competition before. It’s my dream,” he added.

China had sent an Under-18 side with the aim of keeping this team together, hoping that they would blossom in a few years.

Coach Cui Yongxin said: “We fielded young players for this tournament because we want to give them match practice. We hope to win the Junior Asia Cup in three years.”

In the Women’s Junior AHF Cup, Chinese Taipei clinched the title for the first time in 10 years, sealing top spot among seven teams with a 10-0 win over Hong Kong on June 23. They last won in 2014 in Hong Kong, where they beat Singapore 3-1 in the final.

Chiang Ta-wei, the team’s assistant coach, said “the chemistry and unity within the team was what helped us win, which is why we conceded only one goal in this tournament”.

Captain Chen Ting-chun, agreed, saying: “I feel that we were very united.

“Everyone rose to top together, one step at a time.”

The 21-year-old, who is targeting a top-five finish at the Women’s Junior Asia Cup, added: “I feel like jumping for joy. This is my last year participating in the tournament, so I’m very happy to achieve this result with my team.”

The Singapore women’s team, who ended sixth after losing 7-1 to second-placed Bangladesh on June 23, had missed out on qualification for the Junior Asia Cup by just one spot.

Captain Nadiah Ong, 19, said: “I think we did pretty well for a team that have barely any experience. They really worked hard, and you can see on the pitch their desire to win.

“I think we’re all going to have our breaks and go back to school, impart what we learnt over here to our fellow players.

“Afterwards we are going to create a bigger pool and have a new selection for development players in July, so that’ll be a good starting point.”

The Republic’s men’s team, who finished the event eighth out of 11 after losing the seventh-place play-off 2-1 to Iran on June 22, are hopeful of a better showing in future.

K. Vijayan, the men’s national head coach also responsible for the development of young players, said: “This isn’t the best team that Singapore can assemble.

“If we had the players we wanted we would have surely done better, but we will in the future.”