Muscat: Oman national hockey team completed their participation in the Men’s Indoor Asia Cup hockey championship, the tournament hosted by Kazakhstan in Taldykorgan city during May 21 to 26, with participation of eight teams, Oman Indonesia, Kazakhstan and Malaysia, Iran, Singapore, Tajikistan and Thailand.
National team ranked sixth in the overall standings of the tournament and won a number of international and Asian ranking points, which will serve the team in the upcoming participations, after starting this edition without any points.
The Oman team concluded with good performance matches, were able to win over Singapore 3/2, and then over Tajikistan with a score of 13/1 in the competitions for ranking places from fifth to eighth. The team’s level gradually appeared well in the championship competitions. Iranian teams were able along with Malaysia to qualify for the next World Cup finals.
In the last match against the Indonesia team, Oman team sought to win and presented a better level despite losing the match with a score of 3/5.
Oman achieved a victory over Singapore in the opening of the competitions to determine the places from fifth to eighth, with a score of 3/2, national players performed well despite many opportunities that missed.
National team was able to get rid of the goal complex in the second match of group stage against Tajikistan, were able to win with a score of 13/1, the players presented a good level in the match and imposed their control over all four rounds.
Omani player, Rashid al Fazari, won the best player award in the match against Singapore. Talal Mohammed Beit Hazim, won the best player award in the second match, after showing great performance and scoring a hat-trick.
The Asian Hockey Federation has assigned Omani referee, Ahmed bin Ali al Hassani, in managing Asian Cup indoor competitions. Al Hassani officiated 7 matches in the tournament, including the most prominent semi-finals between Iran and Malaysia.
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