by 
In a historic achievement, the Bangladesh women's hockey team secured a bronze medal in their first-ever participation in the Under-18 Asia Cup. The team defeated Kazakhstan 6-2 in the third-place playoff held in Dazhou, China, today. Airin Akter was the star of the match, scoring a hat-trick and earning the Player of the Match award.While the women's team celebrated their podium finish, the Bangladesh men's team fell short in their bronze medal match, losing 5-2 to Malaysia. The women's team faced a challenging start in the tournament, suffering an 11-0 defeat to Japan in their opening group match. However, they bounced back strongly, defeating Uzbekistan 3-0 and Hong Kong by the same margin to secure a spot in the semifinals. Despite a 9-0 loss to China and a 2-2 draw against Kazakhstan in the semifinals, the team regrouped for the bronze medal match. In today's game, Bangladesh trailed early after conceding a goal in the 9th minute. Airin Akter equalized in the 12th minute and added two more goals between the 18th and 20th minutes, giving Bangladesh a 3-1 lead. Captain Sharika Rimon scored the fourth goal in the 35th minute, while Kona Akter and Riyasha Rishi contributed one goal each. Kazakhstan managed a late goal in the 59th minute, but it only reduced the margin of defeat. Throughout the tournament, Bangladesh conceded 24 goals while scoring 14. Airin Akter led the team with 5 goals, followed by Kona Akter with 4. In the U-18 Asia Cup finals, Japan and China will compete for the women's title, while Japan and Pakistan will face off for the men's gold.
