Bangkok (9 Oct, 2016): Thailand clinched the 4th Women Asian Hockey Federation Cup at the Thailand National Hockey Stadium in Bangkok today.
The Thais, ranked 36th in the FIH World Rankings, celebrated a 4-0 victory over the 44th-ranked Singaporeans with a hat-trick from Kornkanok Sanpoung while Natthakarn Aunjai sunk Singapore further with the fourth.
It was midfielder Kornkanok’s sixth goal for Thailand who has been undefeated through the tournament. They topped Group A with 12 points from four matches in the preliminary stage.
Kornkanok provided the host the much needed break with a 17th minute field goal as Thailand took a 1-0 lead and Natthakarn made it 2-0 just three minutes before the end of the third quarter before Kornkanok returned to nail Singapore with fields goals in the 57th and 67th minutes respectively.
Defending champions Chinese Taipei clinched the bronze medal following a 4-1 win over Pakistan while Hong Kong defeated Sri Lanka 2-1 to finish fifth spot and Uzbekistan clamped Cambodia 12-0 in the playoff for seventh-eighth placing.
Siblings Chia Yu Yang (4th) and Chia Hua Yang (10th) gave Chinese Taipei a 2-0 lead in the first quarter through field goals and Ambreen Arshad pulled one back for Pakistan two minutes going into the third quarter. However, the defending champions were once again on top of their opponents by the 35th and 47th minutes for a 4-1 lead and ensured victory was theirs.
It was the Sri Lankans, ranked 47th in the world, who opened scoring through Nayana Jayaneththi in the 19th minute but that was as far as they went before Hong Kong, ranked 39th, came back with goals in the 40th and 52nd minutes through team captain Ka I Lo and Ching Nam Chan.
For Sri Lanka it was a sad ending to a magical start to their AHF Cup campaign, winning their opening encounters against Uzbekistan (3-1) and Indonesia decisively. The team took the spotlight after their onslaught against Indonesia which they won 19-0.
They were, however, deprived of a spot in the semi-finals by defending champions Chinese Taipei who won the encounter 4-1.
Players from Thailand, Sri Lanka and Uzbekistan were among the top three scorers in this fourth edition of the AHF Cup. Thailand’s forward Tikhamporn Sakunpithak is the tournament’s top scorer with 16 goals followed by Inoyatkhon of Uzbekistan second on 15 and Sri Lanka’s Chathurika Wijesooriya scoring 12 goals.
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