Bangladesh’s women’s hockey team endured a nightmare start to their historic Asian Games debut, suffering a crushing 13-0 defeat to tournament heavyweights China at the Kawasaki Juko Stadium on Sunday.

Thrown straight into the deep end in Pool A, the Tigresses struggled to contain China’s relentless attack. The hosts scored in every quarter, finding the net from the fourth to the 57th minute.

Zhong Jiaqi led the rout with a hat-trick, scoring in the fourth, 13th and 29th minutes. Chen Yang (12th, 18th), Zou Meirong (38th, 51st) and Chen Yi (41st, 57th) added two goals each, while Li Hong, Zhang Ying, Ma Ning and Yang Liu scored once apiece.

Bangladesh struggled to create meaningful attacking opportunities and failed to find a consolation goal. Their difficult afternoon ended on a sour note when Kona Akter received a yellow card in the 60th minute.

The heavy defeat followed a similar result for the Bangladesh men’s team, who lost their opening match 5-0 to South Korea. The women’s side must now regroup quickly before facing Malaysia in their second group match on Monday.

The 12-team tournament carries significant importance as it serves as a qualifier for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics. The gold medallists will secure direct qualification for the Games, while the teams finishing second to fifth will enter the Olympic qualifying tournament.

The top two teams from each pool will advance to the semi-finals, with the remaining sides competing in placement matches ahead of the final on 2 October.