Others
IHF Trophy Women's Handball: Bangladesh emerge champions in Youth (U-17) group beating India
Hosts Bangladesh emerged champions in the Youth (U-17) group of the four-nation Bangabandhu IHF Challenge Trophy Women’s Handball '2023 beating their giant rival India by 46-43 goal in a keenly contest final at the Shaheed Captain (Retd) M Mansur Ali National Handball Stadium here on Wednesday.
The match was locked in 20-20 goal in the first half.
IHF Trophy Women's Handball: Maldives finish 3rd in both Youth, Junior groups
Both the Youth (U-17) and Junior (U-19) teams of the Maldives finished 3rd in the four-nation Bangabandhu IHF Challenge Trophy Women’s Handball beating their Nepalese rivals in the 3rd place-deciding match at Shaheed Captain (Retd) M Mansur Ali National Handball Stadium here on Tuesday.
In the day's first match, the Maldives Women's U-17 Youth team beat Nepal U-17 youth team by 41-10 goals after leading the first half by 19-03 goal.
The Maldives team also maintained their supremacy in the Women's U-19 Junior competition defeating their Nepalese counterpart by 22-05 goals after dominating the first half by 11-01 goals.
The final matches of both the Youth (U-17) and Junior (U-19) groups between holders India and hosts Bangladesh will be held on Wednesday (May 17) at the same venue.
Schedule of finals:
Bangladesh vs India (U-17) at 1 pm
Bangladesh vs India (U-19) at 3 pm
Ahead of the final, the skipper of Bangladesh Junior (U-19) team Shyamoli Minz expressed her determination to fight till the end.
“We are ready to fight till last, we will take the field (tomorrow) with our full strength.. We will try our best to minimize the mistakes we committed in the last match against India, and also try not to commit the same mistakes” said Shyamoli.
The head coach of Bangladesh Youth (U-17) team Dalia Akhter wants to repeat the performances of previous match against India where Bangladesh put up a spirited show.
“India definitely a strong opponent as they have the more experience playing in the upper level, we displayed a spirited show in the last match against them and want to continue it in the final,” said Dalia.
However, she was concerned with a number of injuries. "My first choice goalkeeper Diya Akter is injured and another important player Mahi is also carrying injuries, however we have to go and fight it out,” said Dalia.
Mosasmmat Marfi, the inspirational skipper of Youth (U-17) team is looking forward to restrict India. “We fought hard in the last match, but a lot of silly mistakes put us down., We want to start afresh in the final,” said the talented youngster.
IHF Challenge Trophy Women's Handball: India shine on rehearsal day for Finals
Hosts Bangladesh lost both their Youth (U-17) and Junior (U-19)-level group matches of the four-nation Bangabandhu IHF Challenge Trophy Women’s Handball 2023 at the Shaheed Captain (Retd) M Mansur Ali National Handball Stadium here .
In the Youth (U-17) Group, defending champions India beat Bangladesh 43-33 in an entertaining encounter that had nothing riding on it, as both teams had already qualified for Wednesday's final. The exact same situation prevailed in the Junior (U-19) Group, ahead of its own final Wednesday. The gulf in the U-19s however was impossible not to notice. India thus outplayed Bangladesh 40-18 goals Monday afternoon.
After the day's matches, Holders India clinched top slot of both the groups to reach finals with all-win record in three matches while Bangladesh also assured the final berth with two wins and a defeat.
Earlier, India and Bangladesh reached the finals of both the Youth and Junior groups of the 3rd edition of the prestigious meet with one match to spare crushing Nepal and Maldives in their first two matches. All matches were played at the same venue.
Bangladesh and India will meet each other again in the finals of both the youth and junior groups on Wednesday (May 17) at the same venue.
Despite the day’s defeat, Bangladesh U-17 team’s coach Dalia Akter was fairly happy with the performance of her girls.
She said: "Two of my important players could not play today’s match due to injury. Moreover, we got only one month to prepare for the tournament. As such the girls played absolutely very well against a team like India, because India has been playing handball for a long time and they are very experienced. We also put up a fierce fight with them. I’ll make some changes in strategy against this team in the final and I think these girls have the potential to play better.”
In the day' s remaining group matches, the Maldives earned their first victory in their 3rd matches beating Nepal in both the Youth and Junior sections on Monday.
The Maldives beat Nepal by 42-11 goals in Youth (U-17) group and again they beat Nepal by 25-10 goals in the Junior Group.
The two teams--the Maldives and Nepal will face each other in the 3rd-place deciding match on Tuesday (May 16) afternoon at the same venue.
Tuesday’s 3rd place-deciding matches: Maldives vs Nepal (U-17) at 2 pmMaldives vs Nepal (U-19) at 4 pm.
IHF Challenge Trophy Women's Handball:India, Bangladesh reach finals of both age groups
Holders India and hosts Bangladesh reached the finals of both the Youth (U-17) and Junior (U-19) groups of the 3rd edition of four-nation Bangabandhu IHF Challenge Trophy Women’s Handball' 2023 at the Shaheed Captain (Retd) M Mansur Ali National Handball Stadium here on Sunday (May 14).
India and Bangladesh ensured the finals of both the Youth and Junior groups of the prestigious meet with one match to spare securing full six points each crushing Nepal and Maldives in first two matches at Shaheed Captain (retd) M Mansur Ali National Handball Stadium in the capital.
Bangladesh and India will meet each other in the last league basis matches of both the youth and junior sections on Monday (May 15) before playing the finals on Wednesday (May 17) at the same venue.
The 3rd-place deciding match between two pointless teams, Nepal and the Maldives, billed for Tuesday (May 16) afternoon
In the Youth (U-17) Group, defending champions India, which crushed Nepal by 47-1 goals in the opening match on Saturday, today (Sunday) outplayed the Maldives by 42-14 goals to assure the final berth.
In the Junior (U-19) group, India, which outplayed Nepal by 46-8 goals on Saturday, today (Sunday) confirmed the final berth crushing the Maldives by 55-9 goals in their 2nd match.
Hosts Bangladesh, which made a flying start in the Youth (U-17) group outplaying the Maldives by 48 -10 goals on Saturday, today ( Sunday) assured the final berth by beating Nepal by 50-4 goals after dominating the first half 24-2 goals.
In the Junior (U-19) group, Bangladesh. which made a good start beating the Maldives by 38-21 goals on Saturday, today (Sunday) outplayed Nepal by 23-9 goals after leading the first half by 13-5 goals.
Shyamoli of Bangladesh scored the match's highest 12 goals.
Despite getting a big win, the coach of Bangladesh Youth team, Dalia Aktar, expressed her dissatisfaction over the match saying, “We may have won by a margin of many goals, but if the opponent were tough, I could handle myself a little better.”
Explaining the reason, she said as our next match is against mighty India and they play world class handball, so it would have been better for us if we had a stronger opponent.
Commenting about Dipa Rani, who played a major role behind Bangladesh's crushing victory, the Bangladesh coach lauded her performance by saying that Dipal consistently did well like last match and she has done remarkably well in every position wherever she has been given to play.
Amjad Akhand, the coach of the Junior team, looked forward to put a good show against India tomorrow.
“I fielded some new players today and observed them closely, I am satisfied with their performances, against India we have to raise our game, most of them are more experienced than my players, however we are determined to fight till the end,” said Amjad.
Bangladesh will face India in the youth group at 3pm while meeting the Indian junior team at 4:30 pm on Monday in the last league matches.
Bangladesh Archery team to fly for China Sunday night to compete in Archery World Cup, Stage-2
A seven-member Bangladesh Archery team will leave the capital for Chinese city Shanghai at 12:50 am on Sunday by a flight of China Southern Airlines to compete in the Archery World Cup, Stage -2 beginning there on Tuesday ( May 16).
Bangladesh national archery team, comprising five archers and two officials, will compete in five evens--recurve men's singles, compound men's team, compound men's singles, compound women's singles and compound mixed team event.
Members of Bangladesh Archery team are:
Archers- Mohammad Hakim Ahmed Rubel (recurve men's), Mohammad Ashiquzzaman, Newaj Ahmed Rakin, Mohammad Sohel Rana (compound men's), and Bonnya Akter (compound women's);
Officials: Martin Frederick (head coach) and Mohammad Hasan (trainer).
IHF Challenge Trophy Women's Handball: Holders India, hosts Bangladesh make flying start
Defending champions India and hosts Bangladesh made flying start in the 3rd edition of four-nation Bangabandhu IHF Challenge Trophy Women’s Handball (Youth and (Junior) that began on Saturday (May 13) through a grand opening ceremony at the Shaheed Captain (retd) M Mansur Ali National Handball Stadium in the capital.
In the opening match of Youth (U-17) Group, defending champion and physically and technically superior India made flying start crushing Nepal by 47-1 goals while Indian Junior (U-19) team also outplayed Nepal by 46-8 goals, both at the Shaheed Captain (retd) M Mansur Ali National Handball Stadium here Saturday afternoon.
Hosts Bangladesh also made a good start in the Youth (U-17) group outplaying the Maldives by 48 -10 goals after dominating the first half by 27-5 goals at the same venue on Saturday.
Bangladesh captain Marfi scored the match highest 16 goals, Runa Laila scored 10 while Dipa Rani scored 7 goals for Bangladesh.
Earlier, President of Bangladesh Handball Federation (BHF) AKM Nurul Fazal Bulbul formally inaugurated the five-day international handball meet as the chief guest by releasing the colourful balloons
The opening ceremony also featured march past by four participating nations --India, Bangladesh, Nepal and Maldives-- carrying their national flags and a grand cultural show by a group of local performers.
Chairman of the tournament organizing committee and former senior secretary Md Aminul Islam Khan, co- chairman and additional inspector general of Bangladesh Police M Habibur Rahman, former senior secretary Dr Jafar Uddin, Int’l Handball Federation's PRC lecturer Terie Anthoncen, Indian Handball Association’s secretary general Anadeshwar Pandey, Maldives Handball Federation’s president Ahmed Mujthaba, Nepal Handball Association’s president Tej Bahadur Gurung, BHF general secretary Asaduzzaman Kohinoor, media committee member secretary M Jahangir Hossain were also present on the occasion.
IHF Challenge Trophy: Hosts Bangladesh eyeing on final in four-nation meet
Hosts Bangladesh eyeing on final in the four- nation Bangabandhu IHF Challenge Trophy Women's Handball (Youth & Junior) Tournament beginning here on Saturday (May 13).Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen will inaugurate the meet on Saturday morning.Four South Asian countries--India, Nepal, the Maldives,and hosts Bangladesh --will compete in the 3rd edition of the five-day meet to be held on May 13-17 at the Shaheed Capt (Retd) M Mansur Ali National Handball Stadium in the capital.In the Youth Group (U-17), India will play Nepal in the in the opening match at 12 noon on Saturday while hosts Bangladesh will start campaign taking on Maldives at 4 pm in the other opening day's fixture.In the Junior Group (U-19), India will take on Nepal at 2pm while Bangladesh will face Maldives at 6 pm on Saturday.Chairman of the tournament committee former Senior Secretary of Ministry of Home Affairs Md. Aminul Islam disclosed the detailed of the meet in a official press conference at the Dutch-Bangla Bank Auditorium of the Bangladesh Olympic Association here on Thursday.Co-Chairman of the meet and Additional IG of Bangladesh Police Habibur Rahman, General Secretary of Bangladesh Handball Federation Asaduzzaman Kohinoor, member secretary of media committee M Jahangir Hossain were also present on the occasion. Addressing the newsmen, Asaduzzaman Kohinoor, the long serving General Secretary of the Handball Federation was hopeful of putting a good show on and off the field.”After a long gap we are ready to host an international meet, the IHF has extended all the possible support for the meet, we are determined to show our competency on and off the field” said Kohinoor.Former national players Dalia Akter and Amjad Hossain Akhand, two coaches of the Bangladesh youth and junior teams, expressed their optimism to produce the best performances at their own yard eyeing on the finals.However, they admitted both the teams will miss the service of a good number of key players due to the ongoing SSC and upcoming HSC examinations.Mossamat Marfi and Shyamoli Ming named as the captains of the youth and junior teams respectively.The meet will be transmitted live through the official Facebook page of International Handball Federation
Asian Zonal Chess: IM Fahad Rahman emerges unbeaten champions in open section
International Master Mohammad Fahad Rahman of Bangladesh emerged as unbeaten champion in the open section of the Bangabandhu Asian Zone-3.2 Chess Championships, a qualifying meet of FIDE World Cup Chess-2023 after the 9th and final round matches on Wednesday.
IM Fahad clinched the title securing seven and a half points from nine matches.
FM Tahsin Tazwar Zia of Bangladesh finished runner-up, securing 7 points while FM Liyanage Ranindu Dilshan of Sri Lanka became third.
In the women's category, Bangladesh's WCM Jannatul Ferdous Bangladesh became undefeated champion. collecting 9.5 points from nine matches.
WFM Noshin Anjum finished runner-up with 7 points.
WFM Master Nazarana Khan Eva became third with 6.5 points while Wadifa Ahmed was placed fourth in the women's group with the same points.
Nine players secured 6 points each in the open category.
Their places in the tie-breaking system are: Fourth-GM Enamul Hossain Razib, Fifth-FM Sheikh Nasir Ahmed, Sixth-GM Ziau Rahman, Seventh-IM Mohammad Minhaz Uddin, Eighth-CM Md Sharif Hossain, Ninth-FM Syed Mahfuzur Rahman, 10th-CM Nayem Haque, 11th-FM Rupesh Jaiswal of Nepal and 12th-FM Mehdi Hasan Parag.
Sri Lankan WCM Sanudula K M Dahamdi, Nepalese WFM Sujana Lohani, WCM Ahmed Walijah and Warsia Khusbu shared the fifth to eighth places in the women's category securing 5 points each.
Ninth to seventeenth by scoring 4.5 points: Neelava Choudhury, Kazi Zarin Tasnim, Abeysinghe Janandani, WIM Rani Hamid, WFM Tanima Parveen, Nushrat Jahan Alo, WCM Wijesuriya of Sri Lankan, Omnia binte Yusuf Lubaba and Sabikun Nahar Tonima.
The 9th and final round matches of both the open and women's divisions were held at the Dilkusha Hall of Hotel Purbani International on Wednesday.
In the ninth round of open division, IM Fahad defeated CM Sharif, FM Dilshan defeated IM Minhaz, FM Tahsin beat FM Nasir, GM Zia beat FM Javed. FM Mahfuz drew with GM Razib. In the final round of the women's division WCM Jannat drew with WFM Sujana and Wadifa drew with WCM Sanudula. WFM Noshin defeated WFM Tanima.
The prize distribution ceremony of the meet was held in the afternoon after the final round matches.
Dr. Benazir Ahmed, President of South Asian Chess Council and Bangladesh Chess Federation and former Inspector General of Bangladesh Police was the chief guest at the function and distributed the prizes among the winners.
Md. Nazrul Islam, Additional Secretary of the Ministry of Youth and Sports of the People's Republic of Bangladesh, Freedom Fighter Brigadier General Shahidullah Chowdhury (Retd), the Executive Director of Abul Khair Group, Syed Shahab Uddin Shamim, President of FIDE Zone-3.2 and General Secretary of Bangladesh Chess Federation were present as special guests.
Bangladesh Chess Federation Vice President K M Shahidullah presided over the ceremony where F M Iqbal Bin Anowar (Dawn), Senior Executive Director of Walton Group were present on the occasion.
After the meet, WCM Jannat will achieve WIM title directly, FM Tahsin and Sri Lankan FM Dilshan achieved IM norm, Noshi and Eva achieved a women's international master's norm.
From this zonal chess, iSharif and Nayem are going to get the title of cursory fide master in the open category while eleven othet players are going to get the candidate master title .
In the women's category, Jannat will directly get the Women's International Master title, but her rating will be 2000 while Wadifa will get the Women Fide Master title.
Six other players will get Women Candidate Master title.
Fifty six players from 6 countries participated in the open category while 22 players from six countries participated in the women's category.
The winners of the two groups were awarded a total cash prize of $6,000.
India has the numbers, China still has more clout in sports
While India has overtaken China as the world’s most populous nation and has perhaps grandiose ambitions of becoming a major international player, it has a long way to go to match its Asian neighbor’s clout in the sports arena.
China has won 283 Olympic gold medals, which is 273 more than India. China’s capital has hosted the Olympics twice: the Summer Games in 2008 and the Winter Games in 2022.
India has hosted the Asian Games and the Commonwealth Games but hasn’t yet staged the Olympics — although there’s the promise of an Indian bid for 2036.
Also Read: India poised to become world’s most populous nation this week: UN
“China has been successful on the tracks and fields of the world, India hasn’t,” Simon Chadwick, professor of sport and geopolitical economy at the SKEMA Business School in France, told The Associated Press. “India has underperformed.”
Except in cricket.
India’s overwhelming sporting success has been the development of the Indian Premier League, the world's richest and most dominant franchise cricket competition. And with that, India has created something China hasn't been able to achieve: a domestic league that is lucrative as well as internationally successful.
China's big plans to become a soccer powerhouse started with billions of dollars being spent on famous players and coaches from around the world, generating global headlines for the Chinese Super League for a decade until an economic downturn and then the COVID-19 pandemic changed everything.
Troubles in the property sector — particularly painful as more than half of the Chinese league's top-tier teams were owned by real estate companies — put an end to hopes that the league would rival the biggest in the world.
Instead, ambitions of the league being a launching pad for international success for China and its national team have been replaced by allegations of corruption and the financial problems that have resulted in several clubs folding, including defending champion Jiangsu FC in 2021.
Meanwhile the brand value of the India's Twenty20 cricket tournament, established in 2008, grew to an estimated $8.4 billion in 2022.
The IPL last year sold its five-year broadcasting rights for $6.02 billion, making it one of the most lucrative sports league in the world in terms of revenue per game, behind the NFL but above English soccer's Premier League.
“India is home to one of the most powerful sports properties in the world,” Chadwick said. “Which shows that the country has the resources and the expertise to successfully engage with sport.”
Arunava Chaudhuri, a sports consultant and former All India Football Federation media manager, said that needs to extend beyond cricket.
“The key is that India moves away from a one-sport country,” he said. “Success in badminton, wrestling, boxing has shown progress, but team sports are a different challenge."
Then there’s that talk of India bidding for the 2036 Olympics, with Chaudhuri saying the city of Ahmedabad “is being prepared for that.”
India’s Union Sports Minister Anurag Thakur told the Times of India newspaper in December that the government would support an Olympic bid and it would be prepared in time for important IOC meetings in Mumbai, which are being held in October.
“If India is putting in so much effort to promote sports, I can assure you that we will not only host the Olympics, we will host it in a big way,” Thakur told the newspaper. "This is the right time to host the Games. If India is making news in every sector from manufacturing to services, then why not in sports?”
Indian states such as Gujarat, home to the 132,000-seat Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad, and Odisha have taken the lead.
Dubbed as ‘India’s Sporting Capital’, Odisha state has invested more than $250 million to build stadiums for field hockey, tennis, badminton and aquatics. The Odishan city of Bhubaneswar hosted the field hockey World Cup in January and was one of six soccer venues for the women’s Under-17 World Cup last October.
“India is developing fast and might have an ambition to showcase its achievements through sports,” Ivanhoe Li, CEO of Beijing-based sports marketing company Fangze Sports, said. "Hosting a world-class event is not difficult but having great athletic performances might be a question.”
The U.N.’s Department of Economic and Social Affairs declared in April that India’s population was expected to reach 1.425 billion by the end of the month, surpassing mainland China’s population. It brought a lot of optimism in India, but China remains well established to pick up where it left off in 2020 sports.
CHINA BOUNCING BACK
China’s sports industry was hit by three years of stringent COVID-19 policies and a series of strict lockdowns which only ended in December, forcing a 12-month postponement of the 2022 Asian Games and Beijing relinquishing hosting rights for soccer’s 2023 Asian Cup.
That's something the Chinese want to put in the past. The country is ready to get back into the business of sports and the government has projected that the value of the sports industry would reach around $725 billion by 2025, a rise from $434 billion in 2021.
Li, the sports marketing expert, is optimistic about the future, fueled by a boom in the country after three years when hundreds of millions of people had to curb discretionary spending.
“Chinese people have a lot of money in the bank and the sports industry is picking up at an unexpected speed,” Li told AP. “The government is encouraging consumption in all sectors and while people are cautious of spending on property and automobiles, they are spending more on food, travel, health and sports.”
With a growing population, economy and political influence, India’s sports industry is making strides —- but still has some way to go to come close to China.
Asian Zonal Chess: IM Fahad Rahman takes solo lead in open section
Bangladeshi International Master Mohammad Fahad Rahman took solo lead in open section of the Bangabandhu Asian Zone-3.2 Chess Championships securing 6 points after the 7th round matches held at Dilkusha Hall of Hotel Purbani International in Dhaka on Monday
Two players GM Enamul Hossain and FM Tahsin Tajwar Zia are sharing the 2nd position with 5.5 points each.
Five players shared the 3rd position with 5 points each.
They are: GM Ziaur Rahman, IM Mohammad Minhaz Uddin, FM Sheikh Nasir Ahmed, CM Manon Reja Neer, CM Md Sharif Hossain & FM Liyanage Ranindu Dilshan of Sri Lanka.
In the women’s section, WCM Jannatul Ferdous of Bangladesh maintained her solo lead with 6 points after the 7th round matches.
WFM Noshin Anjum and Wadifa Ahmed sharing the 2nd position with 5 points each, WFM Nazarana Khan Eva, Kazi Zarin Tasnim and WCM Sanudul KM Dahamdi shared the 3rd position with 4.5 points each.
In the open section of the day's 7th round matches, IM Fahad defeated FM Dilshan of Sri Lanka.
IM Fahad defeated FM Master Dilshan, GM Razib drew with GM Zia. FM Tahsin defeated FM Subrota Biswas, IM Minhaz defeated Md. Abjid Rahma. FM Sheikh Nasir drew with CM Neer. FM Syed Mahfuzur Rahman beat FM Amer Karim of Pakistan, FM Khandaker Aminul Islam beat Md. Sagor, FM Mohammad Javed beat Md Masum Hossain, Tutul Dhar beat Shafiq Ahmed, CM Md. Shawket Bin Osman Shaon beat Avik Sarker, CM Chanchal Kumer Ghosh beat Siam Chowdhury, Mohammed Enayet Hossain beat Mahtabuddin Ahmed, FM Muhammed Shuaau of Maldives beat Shadat Kibria Ayaan, CM Sakline Mostafa Sajid beat Zoar Haque Prodhan, Md Shariatullah beat Tashriq Saihan Shan, FM Md Saif Uddin beat Safayet Kibria Azaan, Md Sajidul Haque beat Kazi Afsan Rawank Anan, Dr. Ratan Kumar Paul beat Afnan Zarif Haque, Md Nasim Hossain Bhuiyan beat Hanif Mollah, Md Abu Tarique beat Sk. Rashedul Hasan, Rayan Rashid Mugdho beat Akramul Azam, Ananda Kumar Sharma beat Tashi Tobgay of Bhutan. Md. Azmaeen Parvez Sayor drew with Md. Abu Hanif, Marzouq Chowdhury drew with CM Nayem Haque and FM Mohammed Abdul Malek drew with FM Rupesh Jaiswal of Nepal.
In the day's 7th round matches women’s section WCM Jannat beat WCM Walijah. WCM Jannat won against WCM Walijah, WFM Noshin defeated WFM Wadifa, Kazi Zarin Tasnim beat Abesingane H M H Zandani of Sri Lanka, WCM Sanudula K M Dahamdi beat Warsia Khusbu, Tanima Parveen beat Neelava Choudhury, Omnia binte Yusuf Lubaba beat Sabikun Nahar to Tonima, Wijesuria G P Y of Sri Lanka beat Yeshey Lhaden of Bhutan, WCM Mehak Gul defeated Fatiha Eyenoon Diya Nihaya Ahmed of Maldives beat Ashiya Sultana. WIM Rani Hamid drew with Nusrat Jahan Alo.
The 8th and penultimate round games of the open and women's sections will be held on Tuesday from 3 pm at the same venue.