India beat Bangladesh to lift U-18 Asia Cup

Dhaka, September 30

A last-minute strike gave India a 5-4 victory over hosts Bangladesh in the final of the men’s U-18 hockey Asia Cup.

In what was almost a replay of the pool game, the two teams treated the fans to a thrilling nine-goal encounter with India emerging triumphant.

India got off to a quick start and kept the ball in their possession as they searched for an opening. Their approach paid off as they won their first penalty corner in the 6th minute. After an initial error, India recovered and improvised to take a shot on goal but the attempt went in vain.

While India held possession, Bangladesh waited for counter-attacking opportunities. The tactic worked and the home team won a penalty corner. After the initial save by Pankaj Kumar Rajak, M Roman Sarkar netted the ball to give the hosts the lead.

India were quick to get the equaliser through Shivam Anand, who picked up a pass on the edge of the circle, cut back in and ran past two Bangladesh defenders before firing in a reverse hit. India earned one more penalty corner but another error denied them a goal.

Bangladesh went ahead, again from a counter —Mohammad Mohsin deflected a cross from the left into the goal. After the break, India levelled the scores through Hardik Singh's penalty corner conversion before Dilpreet Singh scored to hand the visiting team a 3-2 lead. Bangladesh equalised through Mohammed Ashraful Islam in the 60th minute.

But Ibungo Singh Konjengbam fired India back in front again. Bangladesh fought back and Mahabub Hossain levelled the scores after a quick counter in the 64th minute. A quick Indian counter-attack found the Bangladesh defence out of position and Abhishek deflected the ball in. — PTI