Irin Akter Riya scored a brilliant hat-trick as Bangladesh national women's hockey team thrashed Iran by 9-3 goals in their third match of the ongoing Women's Asian Hockey five-a-side World Cup Qualifier on Saturday.

The winners led the first half by 5-1 goals in the match held in Salalah, Oman.
 
Bangladesh took control over the match in the beginning though Iran offered some resistance in the first few minutes. 

As the times were progressing the Bangladesh girls snatched the momentum showing their prowess and stumped their full of domination till the end of the match. 

The girls in red and green were ahead in all aspects of ball possession and attack.

Riya of Bangladesh was adjudged the man of the match for his impressive performance in the match.

The five-a-side hockey tournament is a completely new experience for the national women's hockey team. 

This is the first time Bangladesh hockey team are taking part in the tournament. The women's team is showing great performance in just a few days of preparation. 

Not only that, it also gives a glimpse of the potential of Bangladeshi women's hockey in the international arena.

Bangladesh was placed in Challengers Pool with Hong Kong, Chinese Taipei, Indonesia, Iran and hosts Oman while India, Japan, Malaysia and Thailand were put in Elite Pool.

Bangladesh will play their fourth match against and hosts Oman tonight (Saturday) and play their last match against Hong Kong tomorrow (Sunday).

Three teams from the qualifying round will play the World Cup Hockey.
 
Earlier, Bangladesh made a losing start as they suffered a 4-7 goal defeat to Indonesia in their Pool opening match but bounced back to registered a convincing 10-5 goal win over Chinese Taipei in their second match of the tournament.

BDST: 1818 HRS, AUG 26, 2023
MN/SMS