Bangladesh Ansar & VDP made a good start in the Bangabandu Federation Cup Men's Handball Tournament' 2020 beating Team Handball Dhaka by 50-17 goals in the opening match Saturday morning at the Shaheed (Capt) M Mansur Ali National Handball  Stadium here.

The winners led the first half by 25-10 goals

Managing Director of the meet's sponsor Orient Bread Mahbub-Uz-Zaman inaugurated the five-day four-team competition as the chief guest.

Bangladesh Handball Federation ( BHF) vice president M Nurul Islam presided over the inaugural function, also attended by BHF vice president cum tournament committee chairman Golam Habib and BHF general secretary Asaduzzaman Kohinoor.

The Federation Cup Handball tournament has been  arranged after a long gap of 16 years on the occasion of Mujib Borsho.

On completion of the league basis matches, two top teams will play in the final on November 4 at 11:30 am.

Read Also: Bangabandhu Fed Cup Handball begins Saturday

The British Head Coach of Bangladesh National Football team Jamie Day accompanied by Assistant coach Stuart Watkiss and newly-appointed goalkeeping coach Les Cleevely arrived in Dhaka on Thursday ahead of next month's FIFA International friendly against Nepal.
 
Nepali players are expected to arrive here on November 5 to play two FIFA international friendlies with hosts Bangladesh on November 13 and 17 at Bangabandhu National Stadium.
 
With the match, Bangladesh are going to return to international football after about 10 months.  
 
Meanwhile, Denmark-based captain of Bangladesh national football team Jamal Bhuiyan also reached Dhaka Thursday morning to join the national team.
 
But, the three English coaches and captain Jamal will have to undergo quarantine before joining the training camp.
 
Besides, the Finland-based footballer of the Bashundhara Kings Tariq Raihan Kazi, who earned the first call in the Bangladesh national squad, is already in the capital and joined the national camp on Thursday after quarantine.
 
Meanwhile, the preliminary training camp of the national football team began last Saturday under the local coaches.
 
Also read: BFF extends contract with coach Jamie Day for 2 years

The Bangabandhu Federation Cup Men's Handball Tournament, named after the nation’s founding father, is all set to begin on Saturday after a long gap of 12 years.
 
Managing Director of the meet's sponsor Orient Bread Mahbub-Uz-Zaman will inaugurate the five-day four-team competition as the chief guest on Saturday morning while Chairman of the Nannu Group of Industries BM Shoeb will also be present as the special guest.
 
Handball Dhaka will play against Bangladesh Ansar & VDP in the opening match at 11:30am on Saturday at the Shaheed (Capt) M Mansur Ali National Handball  Stadium in the capital.
 
Bangladesh Police Handball Club will play Bandarban DSA at 6:15pm in the other opening day's fixture at the same venue.
 
On completion of the league basis matches, two top teams will play in the final on November 4 at 11:30am.
 
General Secretary of Bangladesh Handball Federation Asaduzzaman Kohinoor disclosed the details of the meet at a press conference at the Handball Stadium on Thursday.
 
Orient Bread MD Mahbub-Uz-Zaman and Tournament Secretary Salim Miah Babu also spoke on the occasion.
 
A budget of Tk 250,000 has been earmarked for the meet where sponsor Orient Bread will provide Tk 100,000 only.

Senior Sports Journalist Mustaque Ahmed Khan suddenly died while he was playing a badminton match during annual sports festival of Bangladesh Sports Press Association (BSPA) at the wooden floor of the Shaheed Tajuddin Ahmed Indoor Stadium here on Tuesday.

During the match he suddenly collapsed. His friends and colleagues rushed him to the nearby Islami Bank hospital in Kakrail, where the on-duty doctor  declared him dead.

Mustaque Ahmed Khan, sports journalist of BD Sports.com and a member of BSPA, was suffering from diabetes and low blood pressure.

He was 55.

He left behind wife, two sons, one daughter and a large number of admirers to mourn his death

He will be buried at his home village in Cumilla after a janaza post-Ast at sSontek masjid in Jatrabari.

Meanwhile, BSPA and Bangladesh Handball Federation condoled the death of Mustaque Ahmed Khan.

Mahmudullah XI clinched the hastily-arranged BCB President’s Cup on Sunday, outclassing surprise finalists the Najmul XI by seven wickets at the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium. 

Najmul XI were asked to bat first after losing the toss and posted a below par total of 173 runs riding on the wonderful innings of 75 runs off Irfaan Shukkur. In reply, Liton Das (68), and Imrul Kaeys (53) hit the fifties for Mahmudullah XI, and they won the title. 

Mahmudullah XI ended up on 177 for three in 29.4 overs and won the game in a canter with seven wickets and more than 20 overs to spare. But this was an occasion where the bowlers deserve the credit for having done the hard work earlier, bowling the Najmul XI out for a paltry total of just 173, in 47.1 overs.

The wrecker in chief was 20-year-old Sumon Khan, who in partnership with the experienced Rubel rattled Najmul XI with the new ball, and ended up with 5/38 off his 10 overs. thanks to wonderful bowling by Sumon Khan who scalped five wickets conceding 38 runs in 10 overs.

Openers of Najmul XI— Saif Hassan and Soumya Sarkar— posted only 4 and 5 runs respectively. Rubel Hossain grabbed the first wicket removing Saif. Soumya, in the course of scoring just 5, already had to retire hurt once - although he did come back out to bat, only to be snared by a fired up Sumon.

Najmul Hossain Shanto (32) and Mushfiqur Rahim (12) tried to control the initial damage, but failed to come up with the bigger effort when Najmul XI were in dire straits.

Afif Hossain disappointed again as he failed to add anything to the board. He was hunted by Sumon as well. Towhid Hridoy, who had come up with some imperious displays earlier, scored 26 this time.

The rampant Irfaan Shukkur was the best batsman for Najmul XI posting 75 off 77 balls with eight fours and two sixes. He didn't look like he was batting in the same match, at the same venue, or against the same opponents as his teammates, before Rubel came back in the death overs to bowl him out.

During his stay at the crease, Najmul XI added a total of 107 runs to their total, of which Irfaan contributed 75.

Eventually, Najmul XI tumbled for 173. To go with Sumon's 5-for and Rubel's brace, Ebadat, Mehidy and Mahmudullah grabbed a wicket apiece.

It was the first bit of 'competitive' cricket played in Bangladesh since the Coronavirus lockdowns. In that sense, it may have heralded a return of sorts for the game. Yet a triangular series between 3 different sets of the players in contention to represent the same team at international could hardly count as 'competitive' - especially when compared to the chance to compete in a proper 3-Test series against Sri Lanka that was missed, and the BCB President's Cup had to replace.

Next up, BCB is planning to host a T20 league comprising five teams. 

Brief score: 

Najmul XI 173/10 in 47.1 overs, Irfaan 75, Najmul 32, Towhid 26, Mushfiqur 12; Sumon 5/38, Rubel 2/27

Mahmudullah XI 177/3 in 29.4 overs, Liton 68, Imrul 53*, Mahmudullah 23*; Nasum 2/48, Al Amin 1/32

Also: BCB President’s Cup: Najmul XI fail to post challenging total