Dhaka, Mar 21 (UNB) – Bangladeshi Grand Masters Mollah Abdullah Al Rakib and Enamul Hossain Razib shared the top slot in the Open section of the Asian Zonal Chess Championships (Zone 3.2) securing 5.5 points each after the 7th round matches at the conference room of SREDA at Institution of Engineers, Bangladesh (IEB) in the city on Thursday.

Four players are sharing the 2nd position with 5 points each. They are GM Ziaur Rahman & FM Mohammad Fahad Rahman of Saif Sporting Club, GM Reefat Bin Sattar and IM Mohammad Minhaz Uddin of Bangladesh Navy.  

Six other players are sharing the 3rd slot securing 4.5 points each. They are FM Mehdi Hasan Parag, FM Syed Mahfuzur Rahman, CM SM Sharon, CM Sohel Chowdhury, Nayem Haque and FM Thilakarathne of Sri Lanka. 

In the 7th round games of the Open section, GM Rakib beat GM Zia, GM Razib drew with FM Fahad, GM Reefat beat IM Shakil, IM Minhaz drew with FM Thilakarathe, FM Parag drew with Nayem, FM Mahfuz drew with Shawket Bin Osman Shaon, CM Sohel defeated FM Md Taibur Rahman, CM Sharon beat Swarnavo Choudhury, Md Jamal Uddin trounced FM Mohammad Javed, Alahakoon Isuru outplayed Tahsin Tajwar Zia, CM Md Sharif Hossain overcame Mortuza Muhtadi Islam, CM Chanchal Kumer Ghosh beat Sadnan Hasan Dihan, CM Keshav Shrestha of Nepal beat Mihir Lal Das, CM Subrota Biswas drew with FM Md Saif Uddin, CM Mahtabuddin Ahmed beat Md Asadujjaman, Jabed Al Azad beat Mortuza Mahathir Islam, Dibakar Dibya beat Nasir Hasan and Dr Ratan Kumar Paul beat Md. Murshedul Kabir. 

In Women’s section, WFM Sharmin Sultana Shirin of Janata Bank Officer Welfare Society and WCM Noshin Anjum were jointly leading the meet securing 5.5 points each after the 7th round matches.
 
WFM Syeda Shabana Parveen is in the 2nd position with 5 points. 

Four players are sharing the 3rd position with 4.5 points each. They are WIM Rani Hamid, WFM Tanima Parveen, WFM Nazrana Khan Eva and Jannatul Ferdous. 

In the 7th round games of the Women’s section,  WFM Shirin drew with WFM Nipa, WCM Noshin beat WFM Zakia Sultana, WFM Eva drew with WFM Tanima, WIM Rani Hamid defeated Kazi Zarin Tasnim, Jannatul beat WFM Premanath Dinushki of Sri Lanka, Israt Jahan Diba drew with Ahmed Walijah, WIM Ranasinghe SD of Sri Lanka beat Kiswara Shajrin Eavan, Sabikun Nahar Tonima beat WFM Sujana Lohani of Nepal, Nusrat Jahan Alo drew with Jahanara Haque Runu, Samiha Chowdhury beat Aeon Sarker and Thakur Jania Haque beat Wadifa Ahmed. 

The 8th round games of both sections will be held on Friday (March 22) from 3pm at same venue.

Dhaka, Mar 21 (UNB) – Baridhara Rajuk School clinched the boys’ crown and Scholastica School girls’ title of the Panam Group Dhaka Metropolis School Volleyball (Boys and Girls) Tournament eliminating their rivals in the finals at Shaheed Suhrawardy National Indoor Stadium in Mirpur on Thursday. 

In the finals, Baridhara Rajuk School emerged boys’ champion beating South Breeze School, Dhanmondi by straight 3-0 sets while Scholastica School clinched the girls’ title beating BISC Nirjor also by straight 3-0 sets in the afternoon.  

Special Assistant to the Prime Minister and Deputy Office Secretary of Ruling Bangladesh Awami League Biplob Barua witnessed the day’s final as the chief guest and later he distributed the trophies.  

General Secretary of Bangladesh Volleyball Federation Ashiqur Rahman Miku was present on the occasion.

Dhaka, Mar 21 (UNB)– The 33rd Infantry Division emerged champions and the 24th Infantry Division finished runners-up in the Bangladesh Army Hockey Championship that concluded on Thursday (March 21) ) at the Hockey Turf of Bangladesh Krira Shikka Protishtan (BKSP) in Savar.

M Ahsan Habib of the 33rd Infantry Division was adjudged the best player while M Sohel Miah of the 55th Infantry Division named as the best promising player of the meet.

Area Commander of Savar and GOC of the 9th Infantry Division Major General M Akbar Hossain was the chief guest at the day’s closing function and later he distributed the prizes.

Thirteen formations of Bangladesh Army took part in the nine-day meet.

Miami Gardens, Mar 21(AP/UNB) — Roger Federer has won one trophy so far in 2019, which puts him in a tie for the ATP lead — with 18 other players.

That same type of unprecedented parity is happening in the WTA, too, with 13 different champions from 13 tournaments.

No tennis season in the Open era's 50 years ever started this way for the men or women, let alone both. As the tours shift to the Miami Open this week and next, there is a level of depth and a lack of supremacy that Federer, for one, finds intriguing.

"Definitely says something about (how) there is shifting going on, on both tours. That it's maybe harder to dominate. Or it's harder to keep on, sort of, having the same winners," Federer said Wednesday. "And the young guys are really pushing through, which is a thing we've been looking at for some time now. It's just not easy winning tournaments, and it seems easier for them now, which is good. And it doesn't mean the other people are not as good. It's just that there is a shifting going on."

Never was that more apparent than last weekend at Indian Wells.

Dominic Thiem, a 25-year-old Austrian without a Grand Slam title, won the men's final against Federer, a former No. 1 with 20 majors who is 37; even more strikingly, Bianca Andreescu, an 18-year-old wild-card entry from Canada who'd never been ranked in the top 100 until January, triumphed in the women's final against Angelique Kerber, a former No. 1 with three majors who is 31.

"We kind of can see that everyone's sort of at the same level," said current No. 1 Naomi Osaka, "and it's basically whoever wants it the most and is willing to put in all the work."

She won the past two Grand Slam tournaments; the Australian Open was her lone championship of this wide-open season. Novak Djokovic won the last three majors, but he, too, managed to hold a trophy only once this year, in Melbourne.

Who hasn't given a champion's speech in 2019? Serena Williams, whose last title came while she was pregnant at the 2017 Australian Open.

The superiority that Williams, Federer, Djokovic or Rafael Nadal sustained for stretches in the past has not been on display by anyone.

"Everyone can believe more that there is a chance for everybody," said Simona Halep, the reigning French Open champion. "And the fact that the tournaments are open makes it more interesting, also, for the fans."

Then she joked: "And also for us. It's not like before, (with) Serena winning everything."

As with any sport, of course, there are new names that pop up here and there in tennis every year.

It's just that there are more of them arising currently.

"A lot of people who don't watch tennis regularly are only familiar with one or two faces on each side, and that's kind of it. By having so many champions and so much depth, it forces players to keep trying to improve week to week because they know whoever they're going to play is going to give them a run for their money," said Danielle Collins, a 25-year-old American who was 0-5 in Grand Slam action before a run to the Australian Open semifinals. "For the spectator side, it's going to educate people more about more of us and how good of us some of us are. That helps promote tennis."

Federer pointed out that there are those who will find a reason to gripe, no matter what.

As in: One player wins everywhere? That's boring.

Or: A bunch of players divvy up everything? Ugh, no one knows who they are.

His take?

"I actually think it's always good, whatever happens, to be honest. I see positives all around. I came through a time where guys were dominating, and (then) they were not, and then there were multiple winners — and people always thought about it quite negatively," Federer said. "It was never, ever right. I always see it as it's always, always good. Because there's always fascinating stories."

He is not so sure the ATP's 19-champions-at-19-tournaments trend will continue.

"Clay is coming up; that's Rafa's territory. I'm sure that Novak is going to be really, really tough to beat here," Federer said. "Maybe we'll speak again in a few months and everything's back to 'normal.' I don't know. But it's definitely good what's happening right now."

Dhaka, March 20 (UNB) - Bangladesh Special Olympics team have clinched 22 gold medals in the ongoing Special Olympics World Games 2019 in Abu Dhabi and Dubai cities in United Arab Emirates.

They also bagged 10 silver and six bronze medals until 8 pm Wednesday.

Bangladesh Special Olympics Women’s Handball team emerged champions beating the Netherlands 5-1 in the final in Dubai on Wednesday.

However, Men’s Handball team finished runners-up losing to neighboring India in the final on the same day.

Earlier, Bangladesh reached the finals of the Men’s and Women’s groups, participated by some 71 counties of the world.

A 139-member contingent is representing Bangladesh in 11 disciplines — athletics, swimming, bouchi, table tennis, badminton, handball (women’s), handball (men’s unified), football (men’s and women’s unified), volleyball and basketball (unified).

About 7,000 athletes from 190 countries are taking part in the eight-day meet.

Bangladesh team will return home on Friday night after attending the closing ceremony Thursday (March 21).