United News of Bangladesh

The Paris Olympics are coming to a close on Sunday. U.S. gymnastics star Simone Biles made a triumphant return, taking her Olympic gold tally to seven. French swimmer Léon Marchand won five medals — four of them gold — fulfilling comparisons to Michael Phelps. Armand “Mondo” Duplantis won another gold medal, but the real show for the 80,000 at the Stade de France — which will be the site of Sunday's closing ceremony — was when he broke the world record for the ninth time. Sha'Carri Richardson rallied in the anchor leg to lead the U.S. to a win in the 4x100 meter relay and claim her first Olympic gold medal. Boxer Imane Khelif of Algeriawon a gold medal after being in the spotlight because of misconceptions about her gender, and breaking made its Olympic debut with Japan's b-girl Ami taking the gold. Organizers of the Paris Games have, for the most part, successfully showcased the beauty of the French capital. Beach volleyball has taken place next to the Eiffel Tower. Holding events in the polluted Seine River, however, has proven more difficult. Who is winning the 2024 Olympics?The United States leads the medal standings overall, with China next in line. Australia, Japan, Britain and France are vying for the third spot. Here is Saturday's Olympic schedule of events, as well as the overall list of medal winners. What’s the last event of the 2024 Olympics?The women's basketball gold medal game between the United States and France is the last event before the closing ceremony. It's scheduled to tip off at 3:30 p.m. CEST (9:30 a.m. EDT) at Bercy Arena. When is the 2024 Olympics closing ceremony?The closing ceremony is scheduled to begin at 9 p.m. CEST (3 p.m. EDT) on Sunday at Stade de France just north of Paris. It's expected to last until 11:15 p.m. CEST (5:15 p.m. EDT). What will happen during the closing ceremony?It will feature traditional highlights, including the athletes' parade and the handover of the Olympic flag to the organizers of the 2028 Los Angeles Games. H.E.R., the five-time Grammy winner, is expected to sing the U.S. national anthem live at the Stade de France as part of the handover. There will be a medal presentation ceremony — for the women’s marathon from earlier in the day. It’s a more traditional setting after the Seine River was used for the audacious opening ceremony, but don’t expect it to be dull. It features the same artistic director — Thomas Jolly. Organizers said in a recent statement that it will include “over a hundred performers, acrobats, dancers and circus artists.” There will be musical performances and “the participation of world-renowned singers will complete the picture. ... Part of the show will take place in the air, while the giant sets, costumes and spectacular lighting effects will take spectators on a journey through time, both past and future.” Jolly added: “It’s a very visual, very choreographic, very acrobatic show with an operatic dimension to give a great visual fresco and say goodbye to athletes from all over the world.”

Refugee breaker Manizha Talash, or “b-girl Talash,” was disqualified from the first-ever Olympic breaking competition on Friday, after she wore a cape that said “Free Afghan Women" during her pre-qualifier battle against India Sardjoe — known as “b-girl India." The 21-year-old, originally from Afghanistan and representing the Olympic Refugee, team lost in the pre-qualifier battle against Sardjoe, and would not have advanced even if she hadn't been disqualified. Political statements and slogans are banned on the field of play and on podiums at the Olympics. World DanceSport Federation, the governing body for breaking at the Olympics, issued a statement afterward that said she "was disqualified for displaying a political slogan on her attire during the Pre-Qualifier battle.” Talash sought asylum in Spain after fleeing Taliban rule in her home country in 2021. “I’m here because I want to reach my dream. Not because I’m scared,” she told The Associated Press before the Olympics from Spain, where she was granted asylum. The one-off pre-qualifier battle between Talash and Sardjoe was added in May, when Talash was included in the Olympic roster after the b-girl from Afghanistan missed registration for qualifying events. The International Olympic Committee’s executive board invited her to participate after learning of her efforts to defy the strict rule of the Taliban in her home country.

Bangladesh A Team left the capital for Pakistan Friday morning to play two four-day and three 50-over a side one-day matches against their counterpart Pakistan Shahins, all scheduled to be held in Islamabad. The 2nd string Bangladesh team (A Team) was originally scheduled to depart for Pakistan on August 6, but was delayed due to the country's unrest over student protests. However, Cricket Board (BCB) on Wednesday has announced a revised scheduled for the Bangladesh A Team's tour of Pakistan As per fresh schedule, Bangladesh A team will start their campaign in Pakistan with four-day match beginning on August 13 and followed by the 2nd four-dayer beginning on August 20. The 50-over-a-side three-match one-day series will be held on August 26, 28 and 30 respectively Earlier, Bangladesh A team was due to play  the first four-day unofficial test match against Pakistan Shajins  on August 10-13,  2nd and last four dayer on August 17-20 and three-one-day matches on August 23, 25 and 27 respectively. Meanwhile, Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) announced  three separate squads of Bangladesh A Team  for tour of Pakistan including two former national captains Mushfiqur Rahim and Mominul Haque in the squad. Bowling all rounder Mohammad Saifuddin, who was included in the Bangladesh one-day squad, did not accompany the team as he applied for  two-month leave. Anamul Haque Bijoy will lead the Bangladesh A side in the two-match four-day series against Pakistan Shahins  while Tawhid Hridoy has been named as Bangladesh A team captain for the one-day series. The 31-year-old opening batsman Bijoy, who played just five tests for Bangladesh,  has a good first class record with an averages of 44. The 23 year old Hridoy is a regular face in the Bangladesh top-order batting in white ball cricket since his debut in March 2023. He scored 3024 runs in List A matches with a healthy average of 48. Bangladesh preliminary squad for first four- day match: Mahmudul Hasan Joy, Zakir Hasan, Anamul Haque Bijoy, Mominul Haque, Mushfiqur Rahim, Sahadat Hossain Dipu, Modaddek Hossain Saikat, Mahidul Islam Ankon, Nayeem Hasan, Hasan Murad, Tanvir Islam, Hasan Mahmud, Tanzim Hasan Sakib,  Rahman Rejaur Raja and Ruyel Miah. Bangladesh squad for 2nd four day match:  Anamul Haque Bijoy, Mohammad Naim, Saif Hasnat, Soumya Sarkar, Sahadat Hossain Dipu, Modaddek Hossain Saikat, Zaker Ali Anik, Towhid Hridoy, Mahidul Islam Ankon, Hasan Murad, Tanvir Islam, Mohammad Saifuddin, Tanzim Hasan Sakib, Rahman Rejaur Raja and Ruyel Miah. Bangladesh squad for 50- over- side- one-day match: Soumya Sarkar,  Anamul Haque Bijoy, Mohammad Naim, Saif Hasnat, Towhid Hridoy, Mahidul Islam Ankon, Mosaddek Hossain Saikat, Zaker Ali Anik, Rishad Hossain, Mahedi Hassan, Tanvir Islam, Tanzim Hasan Sakib, Rahman Rejaur Raja and Ruyel Miah.  

The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) extends its heartfelt congratulations to Asif Mahmud Sajeeb Bhuiyan on his appointment as the Adviser for the Ministry of Youth and Sports of the  Interim government. The BCB is confident that Bhuiyan, a national coordonator of the "Students Against Discrimination" movement,  with his passion and commitment to the advancement of sports, will provide exemplary leadership and vision in his new role.  His appointment comes at a pivotal time for sports in Bangladesh, and the BCB wishes him every success and looks forward to working together to achieve shared goals for the betterment of cricket in Bangladesh.

Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) on Wednesday has announced a revised schedule for this month's Bangladesh A Team's tour of Pakistan to play two four-day and a three-match one-day series against Pakistan A team all in Islamabad. The Bangladesh 'A' team, originally scheduled to depart for Pakistan on August 6 to play the two four-day and three 50-over one-day matches, was postponed due to the country's prevailing unrest situations. As per the revised schedule, the 2nd string Bangladesh Cricket team will reach the Pakistani capital Islamabad on Saturday (August 10 ). Bangladesh A team will start their campaign in Pakistan with a four-day match beginning on August 13 and followed by the second four-dayer beginning on August 20. The 50-over-a-side three-match one series will be held on August 26, 28, and 30, respectively. Eatlier, Bangladesh A team is due to play the first four-day unofficial test match against Pakistan A team on August 10-13, nd and last four dayer on August 17-20, and three-one-day matches on August 23, 25, and 27, respectively. Meanwhile, the Bangladesh A team came to the Mirpur Stadium Wednesday morning to prepare themselves ahead of the tour of Pakistan. Prior to the day's practice session, the cricketers observed one-minute silence in memory of the victims of the recent crackdowns during the anti-quota movement that left around 400 dead, which eventually led to the ousting of former prime minister Sheikh Hasina. During the one-minute silence, Test cricketers like Mushfiqur Rahim, Mehidy Hasan Miraz, and Khaled Ahmed were present. Earlier, Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) announced three separate squads of Bangladesh A Team for this month's tour of Pakistan, including two former national captains, Mushfiqur Rahim and Mominul Haque, in the squad. Anamul Haque Bijoy will lead the Bangladesh A side in the two-match four-day series against the Pakistan A team, while Tawhid Hridoy has been named as Bangladesh A team captain for the one-day series. The 31-year-old opening batsman, Bijoy, who played just five Tests for Bangladesh, has a good first class record with an average of 44. The 23 year old Hridoy is a regular face in the Bangladesh top-order batting in white ball cricket since his debut in March 2023. He scored 3024 runs in List A matches with a healthy average of 48. Bangladesh preliminary squad for the first four-day match: Mahmudul Hasan Joy, Zakir Hasan, Anamul Haque Bijoy, Mominul Haque, Mushfiqur Rahim, Sahadat Hossain Dipu, Modaddek Hossain Saikat, Mahidul Islam Ankon, Nayeem Hasan, Hasan Murad, Tanvir Islam, Hasan Mahmud, Tanzim Hasan Sakib, Rahman Rejaur Raja, and Ruyel Miah. Bangladesh squad for the 2nd four day match: Anamul Haque Bijoy, Mohammad Naim, Saif Hasnat, Soumya Sarkar, Sahadat Hossain Dipu, Modaddek Hossain Saikat, Zaker Ali Anik, Towhid Hridoy, Mahidul Islam Ankon, Hasan Murad, Tanvir Islam, Mohammad Saifuddin, Tanzim Hasan Sakib, Rahman Rejaur Raja, and Ruyel Miah. Bangladesh squad for one-day match: Soumya Sarkar, Anamul Haque Bijoy, Mohammad Naim, Saif Hasnat, Towhid Hridoy, Mahidul Islam Ankon, Mosaddek Hossain Saikat, Zaker Ali Anik, Rishad Hossain, Mahedi Hassan, Tanvir Islam, Mohammad Saifuddin, Tanzim Hasan Sakib, Rahman Rejaur Raja, and Ruyel Miah.

They came to the field to start preparation for cricket matches ahead, but what they did first was not related to cricket. On Wednesday in Mirpur, Bangladeshi cricketers observed a one-minute silence in memory of the victims of the recent government crackdowns on anti-quota protesters and subsequent violence that left around 400 dead, which eventually led to the ousting of former prime minister Sheikh Hasina. The Bangladesh 'A' team was originally scheduled to depart for Pakistan on August 6th to play two four-day matches and three 50-over matches against Pakistan 'A'. However, the tour was postponed due to the country's prevailing situation. The revised departure date is August 9th. This delay has necessitated changes to the bilateral series schedule. The first four-day match was initially slated to begin on August 10th, followed by the second on August 18th.The three 50-over matches were scheduled for August 23rd, 25th, and 27th. During the one-minute silence, Test cricketers like Mushfiqur Rahim, Mehidy Hasan Miraz, and Khaled Ahmed were present. Both boards are now working on creating a new schedule.

Ten sports personalities and two organisations will receive the Sheikh Kamal National Sports Council (NSC) Awards'2024 for their contributions in the respective field of sports. The Ministry of Youth and Sports on Sunday (August 4) announced the names of the recipients of the country's 2nd ranked sports awards after the National Sports Awards. The NSC awards, which was earlier scheduled to handover on Monday (August 5) at the Shapla Hall of Prime Minister office on occasion of the 75th birth anniversary of Shaheed Sheikh Kamal, has been postponed in the dying moment due to unavoidable circumstances. Name of the recipients of awards: Bir Muktijoddha Tanveer Mazhar Islam (Life Time Achievement), Shooter Shakil Ahmed, Weightlifter Firoza Parvin, Swimmer Mahfizur Rahman Sagor (Sportsmen), Cricketer Towhid Hridoy and Athlete Jahir Raihan (Emerging Sportsmen), Bir Muktijoddha Mohammad Atiqul Habib and Mohiuddin Ahmed (Organiser). Bangladesh Table Tennis Federation (Sports Organisation) and Hamid Group (Sponsoring Organisation), Khondakar Monjurul Islam Dilu (Sports Journalism) and Kallyan Kumar Saha (Sports Commentary). The Sheikh Kamal NSC awards, named after Sheikh Kamal, the eldest son of the father of the nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, comprises a prize money of Tk one lakh, Crest and Certificate.

Bangladesh's fasted man Imranur Rahman eliminated from preliminary round with a frustration performance in the men' s 100- meter sprint heats of the Paris Olympics'2024 at the Stade de France on Saturday (August 3). Imranur Rahman, an England based Bangladesh origin athlete, took part in lane number six of the event's heats number six and finished 6th among eight competitors with a timing of 10.73 seconds to worse his previous best timing of 10.11 seconds. Imranur was very much in the race upto 50-meter, but, gradually went down in the race in the later part. However, in the overall classification of event's all heats, Imranur was placed 25th among 45 participants. After the race, it was learnt that Imranur was not fully fit for the competition and even he was not interested to compete in the event. Meanwhile, Bangladeshi swimmer Sonia Khatun also eliminated from women's 50-meter freestyle heats of the Paris Olympics with dismal performance of 30.52 seconds at the Paris La Defense Arena on Saturday. Her previous best timing of the event was 30:11 seconds. With the day's events, all the five Bangladesh athletes completed their Paris Olympics engagements, mostly with dismal performances. Earlier, swimmer Samiul Islam Rafi finished overall 69th among 79 competitors in the men's 100-meter freestyle swimming in the ongoing Paris Olympics held at the Paris La Defense Arena last July 30. Samiul Islam, who was trained in Thailand ahead of the Paris Olympics, participated in the event's heats number 2 and was placed 5th among the eight competitors making his career best timing of 53.10 seconds. Samiul fulfilled his dream of making his career best timing in the mega games on Tuesday to improve his previous best timing of 53.12 seconds. Later, in the overall performances of all the 10 heats, Samuel Islam was placed 69th among the event's 79 participants, despite of his career best timing. Earlier, teenaged Bangladeshi archer Sagor Islam competed in the ranking round of the men's recurve singles and was placed 45th among 64 participants scoring 652 at the same venue.   Later in the elimination round, Sagor Islam eliminated from the event losing to Tokyo Olympics silver medalist Italian archer Mouru by straight 0-6 sets. Bangladeshi shooter Mohammad Robiul Islam also eliminated from qualifying round of the men's 10-meter air rifles showing a dismal performance in Paris Olympics shooting at the Chateauroux Shooting Complex. He was placed 43rd among the event's 49 competitors scoring 624.2 to worse his previous best score of 628. A 13-member contingent, consists of five athletes and eight officials, represented Bangladesh in the Paris Olympics 2024, the biggest sports carnival in the world. Five Bangladeshi athletes are took part four disciplines of sports-- archery, athletics, swimming.

Old horse East End Club managed 1-0 goal victory over Mugda Samaj Kallyan 0 Krira Sangsad in the Bashundhara Group Senior (First) Division Football League at the Bir Sherestha Shaheed Shipahi Mohammad Mostafa Kamal Stadium in Kamalapur here on Saturday. After a barren first half,  Shawon Ali scored the match winning goal for the old Dhaka outfit East End Club in the 82nd minute (1-0). The day's another match between Arambagh Krira Sangha and Jatrabari Jhotika Sangsad ended in a goalless draw at the same venue Saturday afternoon.

Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo awarded Ukrainian athletes on Thursday with the Grand Vermeil Medal, the French capital’s highest distinction, as a move of solidarity during the 2024 Olympics. “I can imagine today both your sadness and your pride,” Hidalgo said. “The sadness of knowing that your country is still being attacked and is at war, that many of your friends, your relatives are on the front lines and fighting.” Ukrainian rower Anastasiia Kozhenkova and diver Oleksii Sereda received the medal on behalf of all Ukrainian athletes, and both already have finished their Olympic competitions. They led a group of other Ukrainian athletes who attended the reception at Paris' imposing City Hall. The athletes who won two of the country’s Olympic medals so far – bronze in women’s individual saber fencing and silver in men’s 50-meter rifle – were not at the event. The reception started with a minute of silence to honor those killed in Russia's war. Ukrainian Olympians stood still, mostly looking down. A screen hung above the stage showing photos of coaches and athletes who were killed over the past two years. It was dubbed “heaven’s team.” Ukrainian acting sports minister Matvii Bidnyi thanked Hidalgo for the support France has provided to Ukrainian athletes. Recently, the first-ever Ukrainian house opened, made possible thanks to French support. Many of the athletes at the event had finished their Olympic competitions. Another Ukrainian rower, Kateryna Dudchenko said she hoped to perform better at her first Games. The women's team placed fifth in quadruple sculls Wednesday. “Unfortunately, something went wrong, and we didn’t have enough strength at the finish because our competitors turned out to be stronger and they overtook us,” she said. “But I think that right now, for the country, the fact that we are here, that the team is participating, that we are representing our country, is already a victory.” Hidalgo, during her last visit to Ukraine, said the athletes would be welcomed as heroes in Paris. “And it’s very, very nice and very emotional for me to see that in France and the Parisian people during the opening ceremony celebrating the Ukrainian athletes as heroes,” the mayor said.