Bangladesh rode on three goals by Krishna Kumar to retain the title of the AHF Cup Hockey Championship beating Oman 6-3 in the final at the Queen Sirikit National Hockey Stadium in Bangkok on Tuesday.
Penalty corner specialist Mamunur Rahman Chayan scored two and Iqbal Nadir Prince netted one apart from Krishna’s three as Bangladesh came from one goal behind to retain the crown they won at home four years ago.
Bangladesh fell behind in the seventh minute of the match with Khalid Juma Al Sahebi scoring for the Omanis side, but the eventual runners-up could defend the lead for only two minutes as Chayan converted a penalty corner in the tenth minute.
Chayan once again struck within six minutes from a penalty corner to double the lead before Krishna added the third in the 26th minute.
Krishna scored the fourth for Bangladesh three minutes into the second-half and Prince gave Bangladesh an extended 5-1 lead scoring in the 48th minute.
Oman, however, turned back alarmingly when Mohammad Hubaiz Al Sar scored two goals in the 63rd and 69th minute respectively, but a goal from Krishna in the 65th minute kept Bangladesh away from any pressure.
Bangladesh, who defeated Oman 7-1 in the final of the competition’s last edition in Dhaka in 2008, remained unbeaten in the competition and won all the matches by big margins.
Earlier, Bangladesh beat Chinese Taipei, Singapore and hosts Thailand by huge margins of 4-2, 4-1 and 9-1 respectively in their group matches before defeating Sri Lanka 5-3 in the semi-final to reach the final.
Bangladesh coach Mahbub Harun said that he knew that they will be the champions before leaving Dhaka and he became more confident once he found his players in form.
‘Our main target was not to become the champions here, but our target was to qualify for the Asia Cup. I knew we will become champions. Now our target is to do something good in the Asia Cup,’ said Harun.
Bangladesh skipper Russell Mahmud Jimmy was later adjudged the man of the match.

RESULT

Bangladesh 6 (Chayan 10, 16 pc, Krishna 26, 38, 65, Prince 48) v Oman 3 (Khalid 7, Hubaiz 63, 69)