By Anuroop Athiparambath — MUSCAT: MARCH 7 - Oman edged past hosts Bangladesh 3-2 to register their second win in the Hockey World League (HWL) Round 2 in Bangladesh capital of Dhaka on Tuesday. It was a good come back win for Oman after a 6-1 defeat against favourites Malaysia on Monday. With a win, Oman earned a quarterfinal clash against African side Ghana on March 9. “We had prepared the team very well after the defeat against Malaysia. It was a must-win game for us and the boys achieved the target,” Oman Hockey Association (OHA) chairman Talib al Wahaibi said from Dhaka.
“We got three good chances and could score from two of them. Bangladesh played very well with good home crowd support. The Omani boys kept their cool and we managed to see off the hosts’ challenge in a tight match. Our defenders also played a good match,” he said.
In their final match of Pool A, Oman were jolted by an early goal by the hosts when Mamunur-Rahman Chayan found the target from a penalty corner in the ninth minute.
Talib al Wahaibi[/caption]
The Sultanate players pressed hard for an equaliser and they earned a penalty stroke in the 15th minute. Mohammed Bait Jandal made no mistake to net Oman’s equaliser.
However, Bangladesh regained the lead two minutes later, when Roman Sarkar made a clean finish after a good move to make it 2-1.
The Omani players kept attacking and Muhanna al Hasani’s brilliant goal made it 2-2 in the 25th minute.
Before Bangladesh could recover from the goal, Oman took the lead for the first time in the match in the very next minute.
Khalid al Batashi’s field goal proved to be the winner for the Sultanate as they kept the defence in tact for a 3-2 win.
The Omani defenders and the goalkeeper worked hard to keep Bangladesh at bay for entire two quarters of the match.
Oman will face Ghana in the quarters.
“We had seen Ghana’s match against Egypt. They played a good game. But we had identified some week links in Ghana. Oman will prepare well for the crucial match,” Talib al Wahaibi said.
Egypt beat Ghana 4-2 in penalties after a 1-1 draw at full time in the Pool B match.
The semifinals will be held on March 11 and the final on March 12.
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