Saturday 20 / April / 2024
Muscat: Oman made a sensational start to their campaign in the FIH World Hockey League (WHL) Round 2 competition with a 7-0 victory over Fiji in the Bangladeshi capital of Dhaka on Saturday.
In their Pool A opener, short corner specialist Mohammed Bait Jandal emerged Oman’s hero scoring thrice as K.K. Poonacha-coached Sultanate squad struck seven unanswered goals against a hapless Fiji side.
Though Fiji matched Oman in the initial period, they failed to keep up the pace with the Omanis, who proved unstoppable once they opened their account though a fine field goal by Shafi Al Shatari in the 24th minute.
Three minutes later, Mohammed Bait Jandal converted a penalty corner to make it 2-0 in favour of Oman.
The Sultanate squad’s third goal came in the 35th minute courtesy a short corner conversion by Basim Khatar Rajab and three minutes later Mohammed Bait Jandal scored his second through another penalty corner.
In the 45th minute, Qasim Al Shibli made it 5-0 with a field goal before Mohammed Bait Jandal completed his tally with another short corner conversion in the very next minute.
In the 58th minute, Ashraf Al Nasseri rounded off Oman’s tally with a field goal.
In another Pool A match, Malaysia handed hosts Bangladesh a 3-0 defeat.
In Pool B, China started their campaign with a 7-3 win over Ghana while Egypt accounted for Sri Lanka in a 6-2 victory.
In the matches to be played on Sunday, Oman take on Malaysia while Bangladesh face Fiji in Pool A while Ghana play Sri Lanka and China square off against Egypt in Pool B.
The Dhaka competition, one of the three WHL Round 2 events, concludes on March 12.
The top two from each of the three Round 2 events will gain direct entry into the WHL semifinals. The semifinals, to be played as two separate events, will take place England and South Africa in June and July while the WHL Finals are scheduled to be held in India in December.
