Dhaka, December 6: Oman fought their way to a 1-1 draw against Chinese Taipei at the Maulana Bhashani National Hockey Stadium on Saturday.
With the draw Oman and Taipei both finished their group fixtures with seven points but Oman’s better goal difference (+1) saw them reach the final against Bangladesh. Taipei’s goal difference was (-4).
After a barren first half where Oman forwards missed a number of scoring chances the game lit up in the second.
In the 45th minute Chinese Taipei took the lead off a combined attack. Hsi Chen ran down the right flank and cut a superb cross to waiting Ching Hsu in the middle of the arc, Ching unleashed a fierce hit to break the deadlock (1-0)
in the 60th minute Ching Hsu miised another opportunity as he failed to push Huang Yi cross into the net.
Oman’s Shafi Al Satari, Imad Al Hasani wasted their scoring chances in the dying stages of the match.
However in the 64th minute Muhanna al Hasani restored the parity in the 64th minute with a diving push after Salmeen al Nof Ali’s powerful hit bounced off the pads of Taipei goalie Chih Yen (1-1)