China edge Oman to lift AHF Junior Cup

Muscat: Hosts Oman went out fighting against China in the final of the Men’s AHF Junior Cup at the Sultan Qaboos Sports Complex in Muscat on Saturday night. China lifted the title in the penalty shoot-out 4-2 after a goalless draw in the full time.

Chinese goalkeeper Junyuan Hu was the star of the final. Hu, who had denied Oman in the four penalty corners during the regulation time, repeated the performance in the penalty shoot-out also.

Hu saved attempts from Akram Bait Shamaia and Amir al Mashari while Oman goalkeeper Ibrahim al Hasni could save only one Chinese attempt, from Yonghua He who took the first shot.

In the concluding ceremony, HH Sayyid Melek bin Shihab al Said, gave away the trophy and presented gold medals to the winners in presence of Dato Tayyib Ikram, Chief Executive of Asian Hockey Federation (AHF), Sayyid Khalid al Busaidi, Oman Olympic Committee Chairman, Rashad al Hinai, Undersecretary at the Ministry of Sports Affairs, and Talib al Wahaibi, Chairman of Oman Hockey Association (OHA).

Chinese coach Wenjin Xue thanked the OHA for the successful conduct of the tournament.

“We are really impressed with Oman’s hospitality and the facilities were all good during the tournament,” Xue told Oman Observer.

He said the Chinese players could adapt to the conditions in Oman and were able to improve their performance as the tournament progressed.

“Oman played well in the final but we were defending well. Our team players worked hard for this achievement. We hope to make good impression in the Junior Asian Cup in 2020,” Xue added.

Oman team manager Mohammed al Batrani said Oman were unlucky not to seal the game during the full time.

“We could not score past the Chinese goalkeeper on many occasions. We were unlucky also not to hit the target on some close chances,” Al Batrani said.

Chinese Taipei won the bronze medals after beating Uzbekistan 5-3 in the third-place play-off earlier.

Earlier in the classification matches, Singapore beat Thailand 1-0 to finish fifth and Iran claimed the seventh spot after beating Sri Lanka 3-1 in the penalty shoot-out. The teams were 1-1 at full time.

Hong Kong finished last in the nine-team tournament hosted by the Sultanate for the first time.

RASHAD EMERGES TOP-SCORER

Oman captain Rashad al Fazari claimed the top-scorer award after netting 8 goals in the tournament.

Uzbekistan captain Gaybullo Khaytboyev won the player of the tournament award.

China goalkeeper Junyuan Hu was selected as the best goalkeeper in the December 5-14 tournament and Oman’s Mohammed al Noufali bagged the player of the match award in the final.