By Susil Premalal

Sri Lanka failed to qualify for the Hockey Asia Cup after finishing third in the 2022 Men’s Asian Hockey Federation (AHF) Cup qualification tournament held in Indonesia from March 11 to 20.   

Bangladesh and Oman qualified after emerging champions and runners-up in the qualifying tournament featuring nine teams.   

Sri Lanka were unbeaten in the group stages but lost in the semi-finals to Oman 2-1.   

Sri Lanka defeated Kazakhstan 4-3 in the third place play-off.   

In the preliminary round, Sri Lanka beat Uzbekistan 5-0, Thailand 6-2 and Kazakhstan 4-0 to emerge Group A champions.   Group B championship Bangladesh trounced Kazakhstan 8-1 in the semi-finals.   

In the final between Oman and Bangladesh, after the scores were deadlocked 1-1 at the final whistle, Bangladesh won on penalty tie-breaker 5-3 to win the AHF qualification tournament.