The first group stage match for Sri Lanka Hockey at the Asian Games was worked off a short while ago at the GBK Hockey Field, in Jakarta.
Stick in Hand, Sri Lanka takes on Asia
With the most awaited showdown just days away, a power hungry…
Sri Lanka faced a thrashing in their debut game at the Games against Japan, losing 11 goals to nil. Japan is currently ranked 16th in the World and 05th in Asia while Sri Lanka has climbed three slots since 2017 to secure 9th in Asia.
First Period (5-0)
Japan’s first goal came just before the second minute mark in the match, when Hirotaka Zendana converted a penalty. Around the eighth minute mark, Kenta Tanaka slapped one in to make it 2-0.
Second Period (7-0)
Japan continued their scoring spree as they converted three more goals in the second period. Goals were recorded by Manabu Yamashita(10.07min), Koji Yamasaki (12:05min) and Genki Mitani (13:08min).
Third Period (9-0)
Kazuma Murata scored two back to back stunners in the 31st and 33rd minutes to take Japan up to 9 goals by the end of the 3rd period of play.
Fourth Period
Yoshiki Kirishita scored Japan’s 10th goal of the match off a penalty conversion, just before Sandaruwan Sudusinghe received a green card for a minor offense. With one last goal and a hat-trick for Kazuma Murata, Japan finished off their first match in the group in style.
Sri Lanka has three more Group stage encounters before reaching the knockouts; against Korea on the 22nd Wednesday, Hong Kong on the 24th Friday, Indonesia on the 26th Sunday and India on 28th Tuesday, all of which are expected to be tough encounters.
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