Hong Kong, China breaks losing streak

After suffering a series of successive defeats throughout the tournament, Hong Kong, China ended their Asian Games hockey competition on a high note after defeating Oman 4-0 at Al-Rayyan hockey fields to finish in 9th place.

Hong Kong, China opened the scoring in the 16th minute after a superb individual display from Ali Asghar, who dribbled past four Omani players before hitting a reverse stick shot into the net.

They doubled their lead just before halftime when Arif Ali grabbed the first of two goals, and his third of the competition, when he competently converted with a penalty corner drag flick.

Ali made it 3-0 in the 47th minute, scoring from a penalty corner which gave Omani goalkeeper Dawood Asim Siddiq no chance, while at the other end, Leung Hong Wang Howard produced a couple of excellent saves to thwart an Oman comeback.

Twenty five year-old Ali then turned provider in the 58th minute when his pass found Swalikh Mohamed, who placed a fine shot into the corner of the net and securing the victory for his team.

"We came in very confident," said a jubilant Ali after the game. "The most important thing we wanted was to keep a clean sheet, which we did, and also managed to score some nice goals.

"With my two brothers [Asif Ali and Ali Ashgar] retiring, this was a very important match for us and I think it ended up being the most enjoyable game I've ever played in."

Meanwhile, Oman coach Mohy Zaghloul said of his team's performance: "We didn't play well. The team had lost against Bangladesh and psychologically they were not very serious today.

"We must play against big teams. We must train hard. We will have to do a lot of work and, four years from now, we will be back in the Asian Games."

by Asian Games, Doha 2006