Oman finishes fourth in HWL Round Two after defeat to Japan

(MENAFN- Muscat Daily) Oman finished fourth in the Hockey World League (HWL) Round Two event that concluded in Singapore recently.

Oman ranked 23 in the world lost to Japan (ranked 15) 0-4 in the third place playoff after it went down to Poland(ranked 18) 1-7 in the semifinals. Coached by Oliver Kurtz Oman's fourth place finish denied it a place in the HWL semifinals that serve as Rio Olympic Games qualifiers.

The top three teams of Round Two – Malaysia Poland and Japan - booked their berth in the semis.

Against Japan the Oman defence held firm until the 36th minute when Kenta Tanaka finally made the breakthrough with Kazuma Murata Hirotaka Zendana and Kenji Kitazato all firing home to give Japan an easy triumph.

Ukraine took the fifth place with a 3-1 victory against Bangladesh while host nation Singapore finished seventh thanks to a 4-3 triumph over Mexico.