| Singapore in second spot after 3 rounds of games in Asian Games Qualifiers
12 May 2010, Dhaka, BANGLADESH | The South Asian city of Dhaka is playing host to the 7-team Men's Asian Games Qualifying hockey tournament. The qualifiers will see the top 6 teams gain tickets to the Guangzhou Asian Games in November this year. The games started on 7 May and Singapore had played 3 games and are 1-point behind leaders and surprise package Chinese-Taipei. The South East Asian side started their campaign well with a 5-2 drubbing of South East Asian neighbours Thailand.
Mohamed Sabri opened the scoring for Singapore via his trademark drag flick penalty corner. Ian Vanderput put Singapore two up with an elegant reverse shot and Sabri made it 3-0 before the break.
After the restart, Prashan made it 4-0 for Singapore with a stiff sweep shot. Thailand responded with two quick goals and reduced the deficit but Johnson Sivalingam scored the fifth with a bullet push from the right baseline.
Confident of more success, Singapore were shocked 4-1 by Chinese-Taipei in their second game. The East Asians looked completely transformed from the last time they played at an international tournament. Controlling most of the game, Chinese-Taipei have set the standard for the tournament. Prashan deflected a hard hit into the circle into the goal for Singapore sole goal in the defeat.
The Hockey Lions recovered from the shock of the defeat and humbled Hong Kong 3-1. Singapore took the lead when Kai Bin, who deflection a powerful Hazmi cross from the right. Enrico Elif scored the second after the moment of individual brilliance. He dribbled down to the baseline and pushed it past the Hong Kong keeper.
The third and final goal came from Prashan who deflected a penalty corner into the goal for Singapore to move up to second in the qualifiers. The team's morale is high and both head coach Lim Chiow Chuan and team manager DAC Kuldip Singh are confident that the team will be fighting for top spot in the final reckoning.
DAC Singh, who is also the Deputy President of the Singapore Hockey Federation said, "The boys are in good spirits, and playing above expectations, but we won't be satisfied just being one of the six of seven teams to qualify. We want to make an impact and show credibility. Our aim is to finish top of the qualifiers. The Taiwanese were very well-prepared this time and in terms of speed, even tactics, they have improved tremendously. But I'm very happy with how we bounced back against Hong Kong, who are not an easy team to beat."
Singapore lines up against Oman tomorrow and then face Bangladesh and finish their campaign against Sri Lanka.
Table, results and remaining fixtures
|
POS
|
Men's AGQ
|
P
|
W
|
D
|
L
|
GF
|
GA
|
GD
|
Pts
|
|
1st
|
Chinese-Taipei
|
3
|
2
|
1
|
0
|
14
|
9
|
5
|
7
|
|
2nd
|
Singapore
|
3
|
2
|
0
|
1
|
9
|
7
|
2
|
6
|
|
3rd
|
Oman
|
2
|
1
|
1
|
0
|
6
|
5
|
1
|
4
|
|
4th
|
Hong Kong
|
3
|
1
|
1
|
1
|
6
|
7
|
-1
|
4
|
|
5th
|
Bangladesh
|
2
|
1
|
0
|
1
|
13
|
8
|
5
|
3
|
|
6th
|
Sri Lanka
|
3
|
0
|
1
|
2
|
10
|
12
|
-2
|
1
|
|
7th
|
Thailand
|
2
|
0
|
0
|
2
|
3
|
13
|
-10
|
0
|
|
Match no
|
Date
|
Fixtures
|
Time
|
|
1
|
7-May-10
|
Oman
|
1-1
|
Hong Kong, China
|
1000hrs
|
|
2
|
7-May-10
|
Sri Lanka
|
3-3
|
Chinese-Taipei
|
1230hrs
|
|
3
|
7-May-10
|
Singapore
|
5-2
|
Thailand
|
1600hrs
|
|
4
|
9-May-10
|
Sri Lanka
|
3-4
|
Hong Kong, China
|
1000hrs
|
|
5
|
9-May-10
|
Bangladesh
|
8-1
|
Thailand
|
1400hrs
|
|
6
|
9-May-10
|
Singapore
|
1-4
|
Chinese-Taipei
|
1600hrs
|
|
7
|
10-May-10
|
Oman
|
5-4
|
Sri Lanka
|
1000hrs
|
|
8
|
10-May-10
|
Singapore
|
3-1
|
Hong Kong, China
|
1400hrs
|
|
9
|
10-May-10
|
Bangladesh
|
5-7
|
Chinese-Taipei
|
1600hrs
|
|
10
|
12-May-10
|
Bangladesh
|
v
|
Hong Kong, China
|
1000hrs
|
|
11
|
12-May-10
|
Chinese-Taipei
|
v
|
Thailand
|
1400hrs
|
|
12
|
12-May-10
|
Singapore
|
v
|
Oman
|
1600hrs
|
|
13
|
13-May-10
|
Bangladesh
|
v
|
Sri Lanka
|
1000hrs
|
|
14
|
13-May-10
|
Hong Kong, China
|
v
|
Chinese-Taipei
|
1400hrs
|
|
15
|
13-May-10
|
Oman
|
v
|
Thailand
|
1600hrs
|
|
16
|
15-May-10
|
Sri Lanka
|
v
|
Thailand
|
1000hrs
|
|
17
|
15-May-10
|
Bangladesh
|
v
|
Singapore
|
1400hrs
|
|
18
|
15-May-10
|
Oman
|
v
|
Chinese-Taipei
|
1600hrs
|
|
19
|
16-May-10
|
Hong Kong, China
|
v
|
Thailand
|
1000hrs
|
|
20
|
16-May-10
|
Singapore
|
v
|
Sri Lanka
|
1400hrs
|
|
21
|
16-May-10
|
Bangladesh
|
v
|
Oman
|
1600hrs
|
| 
