Orpita treble leads Bangladesh to third straight win

The Bangladesh women's U-21 hockey team maintained their lead in the seven-team points table of the Women's Junior AHF Cup after a comprehensive 7-2 win over Sri Lanka in Singapore today.

Three successive wins have now given Bangladesh a solo lead in the table with nine points, three ahead of Chinese Taipei, significantly boosting their hopes of qualifying for the upcoming Women's Junior Asia Cup.

Fresh from back-to-back triumphs in the first two matches against Thailand and Hong Kong, the women in red and green posted an expected victory over Sri Lanka. Notably, Bangladesh women's team had tasted their maiden international victory of 2-0 against Sri Lanka in 2019 in the same tournament.

Bangladesh took the lead in the very second minute with Airin Riya scoring from open play, but the lead lasted only two minutes as Dilhani Rajapaksha equalized by converting a penalty stroke. Rajapaksha then scored again from a penalty corner in the same minute, giving Sri Lanka a 2-1 lead and signaling that this match would not be easy for Bangladesh. The team waited 15 minutes to equalize, with Nadira scoring a field goal in the 19th minute.

After leveling the score, the women in red and green did not look back. Orpita Pal scored a hat-trick from penalty corners in the 24th, 25th, and 28th minutes, taking the match away from Sri Lanka. Sonia Khatun extended the margin to 6-2 from open play in the 29th minute, and Orpita wrapped up the victory by converting another penalty corner in the 32nd minute.

Bangladesh, however, could not widen their victory margin further in the fourth and final quarter due to stiff resistance from Sri Lanka.