Bangladesh women concede 13 to China in first Asian Games hockey appearance
Bangladesh's women's hockey team endured a heavy 13-0 defeat to four time Asian Games champions China in their opening Pool A fixture at the Kawasaki Juko Stadium in Japan on Sunday, marking their first ever appearance in the tournament.
China, who last won the title back in 2010, wasted little time asserting their dominance, opening the scoring inside the fourth minute and continuing to find the net right through until the 57th minute of play.
The Chinese side spread their goals evenly across the match, striking four times in both the first and third quarters, three in the second, and a further two in the final period as Bangladesh struggled to contain the pressure at any stage.
Zhong Jiaqi led the scoring with a hat trick, striking in the fourth, 13th and 29th minutes, while Zhou Meirong and Chen Yi each finished with a brace of their own, netting in the 38th and 51st minutes, and 41st and 57th minutes respectively.
Chen Yang also scored twice, in the 12th and 18th minutes, with the remaining goals shared between Li Hong in the 13th minute, Zhang Ying in the 27th, Ma Ning in the 32nd and Yang Liu in the 36th, completing a comprehensive rout.
Bangladesh could not find a consolation goal at any point during the contest, and their afternoon ended on a further sour note when Kona Akter was shown a yellow card in the 60th minute as the match drew to a close.
The result leaves Bangladesh with plenty to address ahead of their second Pool A fixture against Malaysia on Monday.
Two teams from each of the tournament's two pools will progress to the semi finals, with the final scheduled for October 2, while sides eliminated before that stage will instead compete in a series of classification matches to determine final placings.
This year's competition also carries significant weight beyond the immediate tournament, with the eventual gold medallists securing automatic qualification for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, while the teams finishing between second and fifth will instead progress to the 2028 FIH Olympic Qualifying Tournament.