Hong Kong's chances of booking their berth in December's Asian Games in Doha have been boosted after the top seeds were drawn in an easier preliminary pool at the qualifying tournament in Bangladesh from May 11-19.
Hong Kong will play Oman, Taiwan and Iran in pool B at the 10-day qualifying tournament to be held at the national hockey stadium in Dhaka. The other pool looks harder with hosts Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Singapore and Indonesia all vying to finish in the top two after round-robin competition.
'I think we have got the easier draw for it would have been harder against Bangladesh, who would be playing in front of their home crowds, and Sri Lanka. Our chances of qualifying are good,' said Hong Kong team manager Billy Dillon.
The top four countries in the eight-team event will book their tickets for the Asian Games from December 1-15. All that Hong Kong have to do is finish in the top two in their pool to qualify.
'We have beaten all three of our opponents before. Taiwan have beaten us too, but we have never lost to Oman or Iran, and I would think it's safe to predict that we are in with a good chance of reaching the semi-finals, which is our main goal,' said Dillon.
An 18-strong squad was picked this week for the qualifying campaign. Star attacking midfielder Arif Ali (pictured), who left his Australian team NT Stingers in Darwin to rejoin the SAR squad, will once again find himself with his three brothers - Asghar, Asif and Akbar - carrying Hong Kong's hopes.