United News of Bangladesh

Bangladesh Police Handball Club finished 3rd in the Exim Bank 33rd National Men's Handball Championship beating Dhaka District Sports Association by 32-19 goal in a 3rd place deciding match at the Shaheed (Capt) M Mansur Ali National Handball Stadium here on Saturday.  The winners were trailing by 12-15 goal in the first half. Munshi Omar Faruque of Polce HC scored the match highest nine goals.  Also Read: BPL 2023: Who Can Win the 9th Bangladesh Premier League  Bangladesh Ansar & VDP and Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) will meet each other in the final for the national men's handball title on Tuesday (January 10) at 3 pm at the same venue. State Minister for Youth and Sports Zahid Ahsan Russell will be the chief guest in the final and will distribute the trophies. Managing Director and CEO of the meet's sponsor of Exim Bank Limited Mohammad Firoz Hossain will be the special guest at the function to be chaired by Handball Federation President AKM Nurul Fazal Bulbul. Earlier in the semifinals, Ansar & VDP eliminated Bangladesh Police Handball Club by 34-27 goal while BGB booked a seat for the final eliminating Dhaka DSA by 41-15 goal.     

Bangladesh reached the semi-finals of the eight-nation Men's Junior Asian Hockey Federation (AHF) Cup (Under-21) Hockey Tournament from Pool B with an unbeaten run after crushing Sri Lanka 14-0 at the Sultan Qaboos Sports Complex in Oman's Muscat Saturday. For Bangladesh, Amirul Islam scored five goals; Mohammad Hasan and Mohammad Hossain netted three each; Mohammad Joy scored two and Mohammad Ali scored one. Read: National Handball: Eight 2nd round matches held on Tuesday Later, Amirul was named the player of the match. Bangladesh, who made a good start to the tournament by outplaying Hong Kong 4-0 in their first match Friday, will play Uzbekistan Monday at 12pm to decide the Group B champions. Pool B includes Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Hong Kong and Uzbekistan. Pool A includes hosts Oman, Thailand, Chinese Taipei and Indonesia.

The first Sheikh Russel Youth Rapid Chess Championship 2023 organised by Sheikh Russel Chess Academy under the supervision of the Bangladesh Chess Federation will start Friday at 10am. Only players aged below 20 can participate in this day-long competition at the Bangladesh Chess Federation hall room of the National Sports Council in Dhaka. The prize distribution ceremony of the championship will also be held on the same day in the afternoon. KM Shahidullah, secretary general of Sheikh Russel Jatiya Shishu Kishore Parishad and vice-president of the Bangladesh Chess Federation, will be the chief guest at the prize distribution ceremony. Syed Shahab Uddin Shamim, general secretary of the Bangladesh Chess Federation and president of World Chess Federation (FIDE) Zone 3.2, will also be present. The competition will be held on a seven-round Swiss league system. The winners of this competition will get cash prize money of Tk20,000 in total. Read more: Bangabandhu 47th National Chess Championship begins on Thursday

Eight 2nd round matches --four in the morning and four in the afternoon --of the Exim Bank 33rd National Men's Handball Championship' 2022 were decided at the Shaheed (Capt) M Mansur Ali National Handball Stadium in Paltan here on Tuesday. In the morning session, Mymensingh DSA outplayed Feni DSA by 25-7 goals; Chuadanga DSA defeated Barguna DSA by 23-21 goals; Panchagarh DSA crushed Narayanganj DSA by 33-2 goals while Gopalganj DSA trounced Bagerhat DSA by 25-6 goals. Also read: National Handball: Dhaka, Chattogram, Bandarban, Kushtia top groups In the afternoon session, Rajshahi DSA beat Bogura DSA by 30-26 goals; Jessore DSA outplayed Madaripur DSA by 32-9 goals; Faridpur DSA defeated Sherpur DSA by 32=7 goals while Mymensingh DSA beat Barguna DSA by 25-14 goals in their day's 2nd match.  

The first phase of the Sheikh Kamal 2nd Bangladesh Youth Games 2023, organised by the Bangladesh Olympics Association (BOA), began Monday in eleven districts of the country. The first phase inter-upazila level competition of the Games kicked off at Chattogram, Noakhali, Lakshmipur, Rangamati, Chandpur, Mymensingh, Narsingdi, Joypurhat, Nilphamari, Kurigram, Barguna and Lakshmipur. Former Chattogram City mayor AJM Nasir Uddin inaugurated the Games at MA Aziz Stadium in Chattogram at a function chaired by Deputy Commissioner (DC) and CJKS President Abu Bashar Mohammad Fakruzzaman. Read: National Handball: Dhaka, Chattogram, Bandarban, Kushtia top groups DC Dewan Mahbubur Rahman inaugurated the competition at Shaheed Bhulu Stadium in Noakhali and DC Mohammad Mustafizur Rahman at the Rafiquddin Bhuiyan Stadium in Mymensingh. DC Abu Nayeem Mohammad Maruf Khan launched the competition at the Moslehuddin Bhuiyan Stadium in Narsingdi and DC Habibur Rahman in Barguna. DC Saidul Arif inaugurated the Games in Kurigram, DC Pankoj Ghose in Nilphamari and Lakshmipur-2 MP Nur Uddin Nayon in Lakshmipur. After the completion of the first phase on January 10, the inter-district second phase of the competition will be held during January 16-22. Read: Sri Lanka lift Women's International Beach Volleyball trophy The final phase of the competition will be held in Dhaka from February 26 to March 4. Boys and girls aged under 17, born after January 2, 2006, can participate in the competition by showing their birth certificates. With the new inclusion of cycling, gymnastics and rugby, the Games will feature 24 disciplines of sports. Around 50,000 athletes took part in the first Youth Games in 21 disciplines of sports. An athlete can compete in a maximum of eight events – six in individual and two in team events – in the first phase of the Games.  

The first phase of the Sheikh Kamal 2nd Bangladesh Youth Games 2023, organised by the Bangladesh Olympics Association (BOA), will begin Monday at the upazila level. After the completion of the first phase on January 10, the inter-district second phase of the competition will be held during January 16-22. The final phase of the competition will be held in Dhaka from February 26 to March 4. The boys and girls aged under 17, born after January 2, 2006, can participate in the competition by showing their birth certificates. Read: Sheikh Kamal 2nd Bangladesh Youth Games begins on January 2 With the new inclusion of cycling, gymnastics and rugby, the Bangladesh Youth Games will feature 24 disciplines of sports. Around 50,000 athletes took part in the first Youth Games in 21 disciplines of sports. An athlete can compete in a maximum of eight events – six in individual and two in team events – in the first phase of the Games. On December 23, BOA President and Chief of Army Staff General SM Shafiuddin Ahmed unveiled the Games' logo and mascot at a function in Dhaka.

Dhaka, Chattogram, Bandarban, and Kushtia DSAs topped their groups to reach the second round of the Exim Bank 33rd National Men's Handball Championship 2022 after their wins at the Shaheed Captain Mansur Ali National Handball Stadium in the capital Sunday. Dhaka came top of Group A, defeating Dinajpur by 46-18 goals after leading the first half 21-10. Chattogram topped Group B, beating Lalmonirhat 20-12 after dominating the first half 11-6. Read: Sheikh Kamal 2nd Bangladesh Youth Games begins on January 2 Bandarban defeated Narail 31-15 in their day's first match and later outplayed Joypurhat 26-4 in the day's second match to come top of Group C. Kushtia topped Group by defeating Cumilla 40-14 in the first match and beating Jamalpur 33-29 in the second match. In the day's other matches, Jamalpur outplayed Thakurgaon 28-12, Patuakhali defeated Khulna 25-11, and Cumilla beat Thakurgaon 23-11 at the same venue.

Sri Lanka clinched the Bangabandhu Women's International Beach Volleyball title after beating Nepal by straight 2-0 sets in the final at the Cox's Bazar Sea Beach on Thursday. Sri Lankan pair Depika and Shaturia beat Nepal's Kamala and Kopila by 21-11 and 21-11 points. Chief of Naval Staff Admiral M Shaheen Iqbal was the chief guest at the final and distributed the prizes. Read more: Bangabandhu Asian Central Zone U-23 Volleyball Championship begins The final match of the Bangabandhu Men's Asian Central Zone Beach Volleyball Championship between Sri Lanka and the Maldives will be held on Friday at the same venue. Seven countries – India, Sri Lanka, Nepal, the Maldives, Bhutan, Kyrgyzstan and hosts Bangladesh – are taking part in the men's competition and four teams – Sri Lanka, Nepal, Uzbekistan and hosts Bangladesh – in the women's competition.  

Novak Djokovic has reiterated his earlier comments that he bears no hard feelings on his return to Australia after his visa cancellation and subsequent deportation in January ahead of the Australian Open tennis tournament. Djokovic was deported almost 12 months ago after arriving unvaccinated against COVID-19 at a time when the country was still subject to strict quarantine regulations and proof of vaccination. Those regulations have since been lifted and in November, the Australian government overturned the three-year ban that came with Djokovic’s deportation and granted him a visa to return for the Australian Open beginning Jan. 16. Djokovic arrived back in Australia on Tuesday ahead of the Adelaide International, where he is scheduled to play next week. Read more: Djokovic expected to be granted visa to compete in Australian Open “It’s great to be back in Australia,” he said Thursday. “It’s a country where I’ve had tremendous success in my career, particularly in Melbourne. It’s by far my most successful Grand Slam. I’m hoping that everything is going to be positive. Obviously (fan reaction) is not something that I can predict. “I’ll do my best to play good tennis and bring good emotions and good feelings to the crowd.” Djokovic said he still has difficulty forgetting his deportation. “Obviously what happened 12 months ago was not easy for me, for my family, team, anybody who is close to me. It’s obviously disappointing to leave the country like that,” he said. Read more: Double-fault: Visa revoked again, Djokovic faces deportation “You can’t forget those events. It’s one of these things that stays with you for I guess the rest of your life. It’s something that I’ve never experienced before and hopefully never again. But it is a valuable life experience for me and something that as I said will stay there, but I have to move on.” Djokovic has won the Australian Open a record nine times, including the last three times he played. Rafael Nadal won the 2022 title in Djokovic’s absence.

The first phase of the Sheikh Kamal 2nd Bangladesh Youth Games'.2023, organised by Bangladesh Olympics Association (BOA), begins on January 2 at the country's upazila level.    On completion of the first phase on January 10, the Inter-District 2nd phase of the meet will be held January 16-22 and the final phase of the meet will be held in Dhaka from February 26 to March 4. Read more: Bangladesh win Bangabandhu Asian Central Zone U-23 Volleyball with unbeaten record BOA Vice President and Chairman of the Games media committee Sheikh Bashir Ahmed Mamun disclosed the details of the meet at a press conference at the Dutch-Bangla Auditorium of BOA on Wednesday. Member Secretary of the Games Steering Committee Ashiqur Rahman Miku, Games Chief  Coordinator Brigadier General Mohammad Ashrafuzzaman Siddiqui and member secretary of the Media Committee Sirajuddin Mohammad Alamgir were also present at the press conference.    The Under-17 boys and girls, who was born after January 2, 2006 will be entitled to participate in the meet showing their birth certificates. Read more: 27th National Youth Hockey final Tuesday Some 60,000 athletes are expected to compete in 24 disciplines of sports with new inclusion Cycling, Gymnastics and Rugby in the ensuing Youth Game. In the first Youth Games, some 50,000 athletes took part in 21 disciplines of sports. An athlete will compete in maximum eight events--six individual and two team events--in the first phase of the meet. A strong and high-level organizing committee was formed with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina as the Chief Patron and Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal as the Chairman.  Earlier on December 23, BOA President and Army Chief General SM Shafiuddin Ahmed unveiled the games logo and mascot at a function at the Bangladesh Army Multi-Purpose Complex here.