Bangladesh hockey team confirmed their semifinal berth in the 5th Men's AHF Cup after a 4-2 win over Chinese Taipei in their second Pool A fixture at the King's Park hockey ground in Hong Kong yesterday.

With two successive wins, Bangladesh top Pool A with six points, with a game against pool's bottom-placed Macau remaining on Wednesday. Hong Kong beat Macau 5-1 in the day's other match to confirm Bangladesh's early progression. Hong Kong and Chinese Taipei, both teams with three points from two games each, will slug it out on Wednesday for the second semifinal spot from this pool.

Fresh from a 4-2 win over Hong Kong, Bangladesh got off to a fine start and took the lead in the 17th minute, with Ruman Sarker scoring a field goal before Ashraful Islam doubled the margin from a penalty corner seven minutes later.

Captain Rasel Mahmud Jimmy made it 3-0 on the half-hour mark as Bangladesh went to the break with a comfortable lead, but faced some stiff challenge after restart from Chinese Taipei, whom Bangladesh had beaten 11-3 In the 2013 Asia Cup.

Bangladesh conceded two goals within 13 minutes as Lu Sung-Ting reduced the margin in the 41st minute and Tseng Hsien-Yi made it 3-2 converting a penalty stroke in the 48th minute.

As the opponents pressed for the equaliser, Bangladesh took the game with a fourth goal when Mamunur Rahman Chayan converted a penalty corner in the 52nd minute.

“We missed a lot of scoring chances today,” Jimmy said on a social network. “We handed them a massive defeat in the Asia Cup but today we could not perform well.”