The Bangladesh U-18 hockey team suffered a setback in their Men’s U-18 Asia Cup campaign, conceding the lead twice before falling to a 3-2 loss against China in their second Pool match at the Kawasaki Heavy Industries Hockey Stadium on Sunday, reports Daily Sun.
The narrow defeat leaves the tournament's knockout race wide open.
Following the result, all teams in the pool sit level on three points after two games, turning Bangladesh’s upcoming final group-stage match against arch-rivals Pakistan into a must-win encounter for semi-final qualification.
With all teams tied at three points, the final round of pool matches will entirely dictate who advances to the semi-finals.
Coming off a commanding 4-2 victory over Malaysia in their tournament opener, the young Tigers started with high energy.
The early pressure paid off in the ninth minute when Munna Islam beautifully converted a penalty corner, allowing Bangladesh to hold a deserved 1-0 advantage going into the halftime break.
The second half, however, proved to be a chaotic affair.
China leveled the playing field just one minute into the third quarter (31st minute) courtesy of a strike from Xuan Bolang.
Bangladesh showed great resilience to claw their way back in front in the 41st minute, with Akash Tuhin finding the back of the net through a brilliant field goal.
Unfortunately, the joy was short-lived.
Just two minutes later, China’s Zhang Youwei capitalised on a defensive lapse to restore parity at 2-2.
The decisive blow came shortly after when Liao Jiazhen struck to seal the 3-2 comeback victory for China, leaving Bangladesh unable to recover their earlier momentum.
The defeat tasted particularly bitter for the red-and-green outfit, who had comfortably defeated this exact Chinese side 5-2 in the 2025 edition of the tournament.
Bangladesh must now regroup quickly to fix their defensive vulnerabilities ahead of their high-stakes showdown against Pakistan.
Bd-Pratidin English/ AM
