United News of Bangladesh

Scholastica and Shaheed Police Smrity College won the titles of the HSBC-Mayor's Cup School Badminton 2023 in the boys' and girls' singles game and Rajuk Uttara Model College won the champion's title in the boys' and girls' doubles matches Saturday after a three-day competition. The tournament, held at Banani Kamal Ataturk Playground in the capital, saw the participation of badminton players of grades 9-12 from 19 schools and colleges in the city. At the prize-giving ceremony, Dhaka North City Corporation Mayor Atiqul Islam said: "Educational institutions must place equal importance on sports and culture along with studies. I'd like to thank HSBC for the initiative." HSBC Bangladesh CEO Md Mahbub ur Rahman said: "With the participation of 108 young players from 19 schools, this three-day tournament is reflective of the families' and thereby the society's commitment towards healthy living, physical wellness and community engagement." "I am sure these budding young athletes will use this platform to showcase their skills and enthusiasm to open up a world of opportunity in the coming days."

Chattogram, Dhaka, Khulna, and Rajshahi divisions reached the semifinals of the girls' hockey of the Sheikh Kamal 2nd Bangladesh Youth Games 2023 after winning their matches at the Maulana Bhashani National Hockey Stadium in the capital Sunday. Chattogram Division crushed Barishal Division 8-0 and Dhaka outplayed Sylhet 8-1 in today's last two matches. Earlier in the day's first match, Khulna beat Rangpur 5-4 in the penalty shootout as the match ended 4-4 after regular time. In the day's second match, Rajshahi defeated Mymensingh 3-1 in the penalty shootout as the match ended 1-1 after regular time. Four boys' group matches will be held Monday at the same venue.

Candidate Master (CM) Manon Reza Neer of Dhaka Division and Nusrat Jahan Alo of Chattogram Division won gold medals in blitz chess of the Sheikh Kamal 2nd Bangladesh Youth Games 2023 Sunday. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina inaugurated the week-long competition in the evening at the Bangladesh Army Stadium in the capital's Banani. Four thousand athletes, aged under 17, are taking part in the final round of the Games for 193 gold, 193 silver and 287 bronze medals. They qualified from district-level competitions. CM Manon scooped up the gold medal in the boys' blitz chess today; Nusrat clinched the gold medal in the girls' blitz chess. The matches were held at the Chess Federation. Read more: PM Hasina opens final phase of Sheikh Kamal Youth Games CM Manon earned 6.5 points in seven matches to clinch the title. CM Sakline Mustafa Sajid of Rajshahi Division won the silver medal after securing six points. Mohammed Saker Ullah earned the bronze medal with five points. Nusrat won the gold medal, securing seven points from as many matches. Omnia Binte Yusuf Lubaba of Chattogram bagged the silver medal while Maiesha Mahzabin Tisha earned the bronze medal. In the boys' blitz chess, 16 players, two each from eight divisions, participated in the event. Another 16 players, two players each from eight divisions, took part in the girls' blitz chess event, based on a seven-round Swiss-system tournament. After the day's competitions, Chattogram Division earned two gold, two silver and one bronze medals in chess. Dhaka Division earned two gold, one silver and one bronze medals.

The final round of the Sheikh Kamal 2nd Bangladesh Youth Games' 2023 begins in the capital on Sunday (February 26) Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is expected to inaugurate the week-long meet Sunday evening at 7 pm at the Bangladesh Army Stadium in Banani here. Some 4000 (Under-17) promising athletes, who are qualified from district level competitions, will take part in the final round of the meet for the 193 gold, 193 silver and 287 bronze at stake. Imarur Rahman, who clinched the first-ever gold medal for Bangladesh in the recently concluded Asian Indoor athletics and 2019 South Asian Games gold medalist Bangladeshi Karatekas Marzan Akter Priya will light the torch in the games opening ceremony. Meanwhile, both the men's and women's football competitions of the Sheikh Kamal 2nd Bangladesh Youth Games 2023 begins on the opening day of the meet Sunday (February 26) at two city separate venues in the capital. In the men's competition, four matches will be held on the opening day (Sunday) at the Palton Outer Stadium in the city. Dhaka Division will play Rangpur Division at 8 am, Sylhet Division will face Mymensingh Division at 10:15 am, Khulna Division will encounter Chattogram Division at 12:30 pm while Rajshahi Division will meet Barishal Division at 2:45 pm on Sunday. In the women's group, two matches will be held on the opening day (Sunday) at the BFF Artificial turf ground in Motijheel. Dhaka Division will face Khulna Division at 12;30 pm while Sylhet Division will meet Rangpur Division at 2:45 pm on Sunday. Two matches will also be held on Monday at the same venue. Rajshahi Division will play Barishal Division at 12:30 pm while Mymensingh Division will encounter Chattogram Division at 2:45 pm. Eight divisional teams of the country, split into two groups, are taking part in the final round of the meet. Participating teams are: Group A : Dhaka, Sylhet, Rangpur and KhulnaGroup B : Rajshahi, Mymensingh, Chattogram and Barisal  

The Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC) Mayor Cup '2023, Season-2  was formally inaugurated at a function on Thursday. Former captain of Indian Cricket team and former President of Indian Cricket Board Sourav Ganguly was  the chief guest at the day's  inaugural ceremony. DNCC  Mayor M Atiqul Islam presided over  the inaugural function held at Westin Hotel in the capital Thursday afternoon. Read: Athletics Federation awards Asian Indoor Athletics gold medalist Imranur with Tk10 lakh The Mayor Cup-2023, will begin in the first week of March with three discipline of sports--Cricket, Football and Volleyball  to raise voice against drugs. Sourav Ganguly. now in Dhaka on A private tour, has a good relationship with Bangladesh since in1989 when he played for the Indian U-19 team in the Asia Cup. The former left-handed batter was enrolled as the Indian captain in Bangladesh's inaugural Test in Dhaka in 2000. During his visit, Ganguly emphasized the significance of sports and music in the lives of young people, urging them to stay connected with these activities and avoid drugs.

The Bangladesh Athletics Federation awarded Asian Indoor Athletics fastest man and gold medalist Imranur Rahman with Tk10 lakh at a ceremony at the National Sports Council in the capital Wednesday. Bangladesh Athletics Federation President and Principal Secretary to Prime Minister M Tofazzel Hossain Miah handed over a cheque of Tk10 lakh along with a crest to the England-based Bangladesh-origin athlete. Imranur clinched the gold medal, the first by any Bangladeshi athlete at the Asian level from the men's 60-metre sprint of the 10th Asian Indoor Athletics Championships, in Kazakhstan on February 11. The athlete, also two times the fastest man in Bangladesh since his first appearance in the country's athletics last year, brought laurel for the country within one year by clinching the 60-metre sprint gold medal. The 29-year-old sprinter won the medal with a record timing of 6.59 seconds. Earlier, Imranur took 6.70 seconds in the heat to qualify for the semifinals and displayed an improved timing of 6.61 seconds to move into the final as the second-best on photo finish. In the event's final, Imranur further improved his best timing of 6.59 seconds. Imranur's previous best timing at the event was 6.64 seconds, which he made at the World Indoor Athletics in Belgrade in 2022.

The final phase of the Sheikh Kamal 2nd Bangladesh Youth Games' 2023 will be held in the capital from February 26 to March 4 at the Bangladesh Army Stadium in Banani, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina  is expected to inaugurate the week-long final phase of the meet Sunday (February 26) evening at 7 pm. President of Bangladesh Olympic Association (BOA) and Army Chief General SM Shafiuddin Ahmed will be the chief guest at the closing function on March 4 at 4:30 pm. 4000 (Under-17) promising athletes, who are qualified from the divisional level competitions of the meet, will take part in the week-long for 193 gold, 193 silver and 287 bronze medals. Secretary General of Bangladesh Olympic Association (BOA) Syed Shaheed Reza disclosed this at a press conference at the Dutch Bangladesh Auditorium of BOA on Wednesday. Chairman of the Games media and publicity committee Sheikh Bashir Ahmed Mamun, Games Chief Co Ordinator Brigadier General Mohammad Ashrafuzzman Siddiqui, Member Secretary of the Games Steering Committee Ashiqur Rahman Miku, among others, were present on the occasion. Earlier, an Organizing Committee was formed with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina as the Chief Patron, Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal as the Chairman, State Minister for Youth and Sports M Zahid Ahsan Russel and BOA President and Army Chief General SM Shafiuddin Ahmed as Co-chairman. The first phase of the countrywide three-tier competition was initially held in 64 districts with the participation of the sportspersons from upazila level and in the 2nd stage, the qualified sportspersons of the districts took part in the divisional level competitions ahead of the final phase of national-level meet. The first Bangladesh Youth Games was held in 2018 where 50,000 sportspersons and officials participated in the 21 disciplines of sports. Some 60,000 sportsperson and officials involved in 24 disciplines of sports of the three-phase 2nd version of the Bangladesh Youth Games.    

Bangladeshi International Master (IM) Mohammad Fahad Rahman finished eighth in the 19th International Caspian Cup Masters' Category A Chess that ended Monday at Rasht city of Iran's Gilan province. After the day's ninth and last round matches, IM Mohammad Fahad Rahman earned 6.5 points from nine matches and settled for fifth place jointly. But he became eighth in the tie-break system. Another Bangladeshi player FM Mehdi Hasan Parag finished 45th, securing 5 points. In the day's matches, Fahad won against Iran's Azadi Amirmohammad and Parag drew with Eskandari Amirali of the same country. Earlier, in the eighth and penultimate round of matches Sunday, Fahad lost to IM Kushagra Mohan of India, and Parag lost to Mohammadian Sechani Arshia of Iran. After today's matches, four players secured seven points each and in the tie-break system, Indian IM Himal Gusain became champion and Armenia's GM Hayrapetyan Hovik became runner-up.  A total of 147 players, including three grandmasters and seven international masters from nine countries, participated in the event.

Ansar and VDP team clinched the Exim Bank 34th National Women's Handball Championship title 2023, beating Panchagarh DSA 30-19 at the Shamsul Huda Stadium in Jashore Monday. This was the 22nd national crown for Ansar women in the national handball competition, including six times in a row. Panchagarh DSA finished runners-up for the second consecutive time. Read: National Women's Handball enters semi-final stage

The Exim Bank 34th National Women's Handball Championship 2023 entered the semi-final stage. In the semi-finals at the Shams-Ul Huda Stadium in Jashore Monday, Ansar and VDP will face Police; Panchagarh DSA will play Madaripur DSA. The final match between the winners of the semi-finals will also be held Monday at 3:30pm at the same venue. State Minister for LGRD and Cooperatives Swapan Bhattacharjee will enjoy the final as the chief guest and later hand out the trophies. Bangladesh Handball Federation General Secretary Asaduzzaman Kohinoor and Exim Bank Senior Assistant Vice-President Sanjeeb Chatterjee will also be present. In today's matches, Ansar and VDP crushed Faridpur DSA 28-2, Panchagarh outplayed Naogaon 19-7, Police defeated Dhaka 17-2, and Madaripur beat Faridpur 32-6. Also, Ansar defeated Jamalpur 41-10, Panchagarh beat Police 23-21, and Naogoan beat Dhaka 21-17. The day's other match between Madaripur and Jamalpur ended in a 10-10 draw.