United News of Bangladesh

Brazilian football legend Pelé, considered one of the all-time greats in football, is reportedly receiving palliative care as he is no longer responding to chemotherapy treatment for colon cancer. Palliative care is given to patients with life-threatening conditions or diseases and is considered to be end-of-life care.  Chemotherapy treatment had been suspended and Pelé was under palliative care, being treated only for symptoms such as pain and shortness of breath, according to the Brazilian daily Folha de S. Paulo. Read: Brazil fans at World Cup show support for soccer great Pelé The 82-year-old, who had a colon tumour removed last year, was admitted to the hospital Tuesday in Sao Paulo to re-evaluate his cancer treatment and later diagnosed with a respiratory infection, according to medical reports. "Pelé is being treated with antibiotics. His response has been adequate and the patient, who remains in a regular bedroom, is stable, with an overall improvement in his health condition," Hospital Albert Einstein said in a statement on Friday. The three-time World Cup winner thanked fans in an Instagram post late Thursday for the well-wishes he's received in a fight against cancer. He had a colon tumour removed in September 2021 and has since gone through chemotherapy. Neither the hospital nor his family has said whether the former footballer's cancer has spread to other organs. He has checked in with the hospital every month. Brazilian fans showed their support for Pelé during the national team's 1-0 loss to Cameroon at the World Cup Friday. Fans in Qatar displayed a banner with the image of Pelé holding a football behind one of the goals at the Lusail Stadium. They also opened a large flag with an image of the Brazil great and the words: "Pelé. Get well soon." Read: Suarez a World Cup great for Uruguay, ‘the devil’ for others Another large image of Pelé could be seen on a building near the venue, along with the messages "get well soon" and "we love Pelé." In the pre-match news conference Thursday, Brazil coach Tite said the entire team wanted to wish good health to Pelé from Qatar. Pelé helped Brazil win the 1958, 1962 and 1970 World Cups and remains the team's all-time leading scorer with 77 goals in 92 matches.

The final phase of the 29th National Basketball Championship.2022, organized by Bangladesh Basketball Federation, begins here on Sunday (Dec 4) at the Shaheed Suhrawardy National Indoor Stadium in Mirpur.    Eight teams, split into two groups, will take part in the final round of the meet. Six matches will be held on the opening day (Sunday) from 8 am to 4 pm. Read: Fed Cup Basketball: Bangladesh Navy emerge unbeaten champions Participating teams are Group A - Bangladesh Navy, Border Guard Bangladesh, Bangladesh Police and Chattogram DSA, Group B: Bangladesh Army, Bangladesh Air Force, BKSP and Rajshahi DSA. Later, top two teams from each of the groups, will play in the semifinal on December 6 while the final match will be held on December 7. Chattogram and Rajshahi DSAs qualified for the final round of the national meet as the Group A and B champions on Saturday.

Wives and girlfriends of England's top players reportedly toasted the Three Lions' 6-2 victory over Iran in their 2022 World Cup opener on a posh Qatar cruise liner ship, their home during the tournament. Harry Maguire's wife Fern, Jordan Pickford's partner Megan Davison, Kyle Walker's wife Annie Kilner, and Jack Grealish's girlfriend Sasha Attwood were in the group that allegedly partied with champagne and cocktails priced at $250 each and sang karaoke tunes while spending £20,000 in one go. Read: US Soccer's gesture of support for Iranian protesters "They're on a premium drinks package whilst on board the cruise liner," a source told The Sun. It was all reportedly paid for before they arrived in Qatar. The luxury cruise liner is docked in Doha for the duration of the World Cup. The group on the luxury cruise ship is among the nearly 7,000 people who have paid more than £6,000 for top-class accommodation during the tournament. Read: What happened to Morocco's first-choice GK before kickoff v Belgium? Qatar cruise liner ship includes a 643ft outdoor promenade, 14 ocean-view whirlpools, 13 dining venues, spa, wellness centre, thermal baths, a beauty salon, gym and more than 30 bars and cafes, as well as the tallest slide on any ship in the world, according to The Sun.

The ‘BSRF-Walton Sports Festival-2022’ will kick off Monday. Mesbah Uddin, secretary to youth and sports ministry, is expected to inaugurate the festival around 9.30am, Tapon Biswas, president of the Bangladesh Secretariat Reporter's Forum disclosed this at a press conference at the media center in secretariat on Sunday. Read more: Jatiya Press Club launched 10-day sports festival on Monday A total of seven events will held at the festival while members of the BSRF will participate in six events and another event is for non-member journalists. The events include chess, single and dual carom, card, table tennis, ludu for members and non-members.

The 2nd Sheikh Kamal SAARC Snooker Championship'2022, jointly organized by Bangladesh Billiard & Snooker Federation (BBSF) and Dhaka Club Limited, begins on Saturday (November 26) at the Billiard room of Dhaka Club Limited in the capital. Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal MP will inaugurate the five-day tournament . State Minister for Youth and Sports Zahid Ahsan Russell MP will be the chief guest at the closing ceremony at 7 pm on December 1. Read more: Breakers Pool & Snooker: Evolving a dream to promote billiards in Bangladesh Fourteen players including five from host Bangladesh and others from India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Nepal, and Afghanistan will take part in the meet sponsored by Dutch Bangla Bank Limited and Shipper Council of Bangladesh. The first phase round robin league matches (best of seven frame), will be held on November 26-28, the quarterfinal matches (best of nine flame) billed for November 29, semifinals (best of eleven frame) on Nov 30 and final match (best of 13 frame) on December 1.  President of Dhaka Club Limited Khondakar Moshiuzaman Romel disclosed the details of the meet at a press conference at the Dhaka Club premises on Thursday.   BBSF general secretary Syed Mahbub, Tournament Director Ashfarul Islam and media committee co-ordinator and Bhorer Kagoj Editor Shymol Dutta also spoke on the occasion. Six first phase round robin league matches will be held on the opening day (Nov 26). Participating players are  Group A -Ahsan Ramzan (Pakistan), Ankit Man Shrestha (Nepal) and Nizamuddin Rossi (Bangladesh), Group B - Ishpreet Singh Chadha (India), Nadir Rohani (Afghanistan) Mohamed Rikaz Munas (Sri Lanka and Shuvo Biswas (Bangladesh). Group C - Babar Masih (Pakistan), Brijesh Damani (India) and Mohammad Alamin (Bangladesh) Group D - Salih Mohammad (Afghanistan), Rajan Lama (Nepal), Asif Imran and Ziaur Rahman Azad (Bangladesh) 

When Mahfuz Kabir returned to Bangladesh from the USA a decade ago, he brought back a dream along with him: to promote billiards in cricket-crazy Bangladesh. But it wasn't a cakewalk for him. He waited more than five years for his dream to take the first step to fulfilment.  In 2018, he started the club, Breakers Pool & Snooker, to pursue this dream in Dhaka’s Uttara. Under this club, Mahfuz organized around 40 pool and snooker events in the last four years. And during this period, Breakers Pool & Snooker became a common destination for billiards lovers in Uttara.  He and his friends brought many people to BPS to play billiards. Many youths of Uttara now spend their time busy on the billiards board instead of wasting time chatting or roaming the streets.  “Billiards is not just a sport; it’s a form of entertainment too,” Mahfuz, the club's managing director, said in a recent interview with UNB. “Our only aim is to promote this beautiful sport in Bangladesh.” Before returning to Bangladesh, Mahfuz played billiards in the USA for a long time. That experience has inspired him to promote the game in Bangladesh. He believes if the youth of Bangladesh get the taste of billiards, it will be among the most popular indoor sports in the country.  Read more: BPL 2023: Mahmudullah in Barishal, Mushfiqur in Sylhet “We received a great response from billiards lovers for our latest event,” Mahfuz said. “We will host more events in the future. I believe this sport has good prospects in Bangladesh.” In the second week of this November, Breakers Pool & Snooker organized an event called Breakers 10-Ball Scotch Doubles Pool Tournament 2022. A total of 44 billiard players participated in this event, and the final match took place on the evening of November 20.  The team of Muhibul Hasna Rifat and Nuruzzaman Nayeem won the event, while the team of Shosi and Hasan ended as the runners-up.  “It was a great billiards event,” Muhibul said to UNB. “Right before the Covid-19 pandemic hit Bangladesh, I participated in the World Championship. But during Covid-19, it was not possible to play. After a long break, I played this event and won it.” Muhibul added that if this event occurs regularly, Bangladesh will get many brilliant billiards players. He also hopes to participate in the World Championship if the national body of billiards takes the necessary steps.  Read more: Bangladesh Cricket League One-dayers: South Zone, North Zone win 2nd round matches Salman Mahmud Jisan, a student of business studies, found his love for billiards when he visited the club in recent years. He participated in a billiards event for the first time and said he would be happy to participate again when an event comes up.  “It was an amazing experience to play a billiards event,” Salman said to UNB. “When I first came to this club, I watched others play. Then one time, I started playing too. I still can't play very well, but I'm improving.”  He also said that he is a regular visitor to the club now.  Not just Salman, a good number of visitors often come to Breakers Pool & Snooker every evening, and to whom billiards is a lovely game only for a few years or maybe months.  “I often see new faces here,” said Mahfuz, the managing director. “I believe more people will get to know the beauty of this game in the coming days.” Participants of Breakers 10-Ball Scotch Doubles Pool Tournament 2022:  Pantho, Mahadi, Darras, Mahfuz, Tutul, Plabon, Doc, Tanvir, Anik, Tahfim, Firoze, Sani, Hasan, Shoshi, Adnan, Pavel, Sadik, Jishan, Rossy, Fahim, Riyasat,  Nahiyan, Nafi, Tasniya, F Rabbi, Jishan, Sujon, Bishal, Nayeem, Rifat, Rashed Kabir, Shaon, Istiaque, Sabab, Rashed Khan, Rafi, Tanvir A T, Bishal, Noyon, Sadi, Zunayed, Anzum, Foysal and Kawsar

Novak Djokovic claimed a record-equaling sixth ATP Finals title by beating the third-seeded Casper Ruud on Sunday to top a fantastic finish to the season for the Serb. Djokovic won 7-5, 6-3 to secure his first title at the event since 2015 and match Roger Federer’s record. The 35-year-old Djokovic, who had lost his two previous finals at the event, raised his arms out and smiled broadly after sealing the match with an ace. “Seven years has been a long time,” Djokovic said. "At the same time, the fact that I waited seven years makes this victory even sweeter and even bigger. Read more: Djokovic expected to be granted visa to compete in Australian Open “A lot of nerves ... I missed a couple of forehands in the last game when I was serving for it. I had nerves, but I am really grateful to be able to serve the match out. I had a big ace to close out." Djokovic became the oldest champion at the prestigious year-end tournament and also earned the largest payday in tennis history as he walked away with $4.7 million for claiming the ATP Finals trophy undefeated. "I made him run, made him play," Djokovic said. "I was looking to be very aggressive and it worked great. I am really pleased with the performance.” It was Ruud’s fourth defeat in a major championship match this year after also losing finals at Miami, Roland Garros and the U.S. Open. Ruud has never won a set against Djokovic in four meetings. “In the end it’s been disappointing to end up losing these big finals,” Ruud said. “Overall, if you gave me an offer to end the year at No. 3, play the finals that I’ve played, at the 1st of January this year I would probably sign the contract right away. No doubt about it. Read more: Djokovic 2 sets down, rallies for 26th straight at Wimbledon “It gives me motivation and a hunger to maybe next time — if I ever get to another final like this — I hope I can learn from what I have done this year and not been able to do and see how it goes.” Djokovic started strongly in Turin and had two break points in Ruud’s very first service game. The Norwegian managed to recover although he was also forced to save another break point in the eighth game. Djokovic finally broke Ruud’s serve at the fourth time of asking. And it was at a crucial moment, on set point, and he ecstatically pumped his fist in the air after Ruud sent a backhand long. The seventh-seeded Djokovic broke again in the fourth game of the second set and there was no way back for Ruud. Djokovic has ended the year with an 18-1 record after winning trophies in Tel Aviv and Astana before reaching the Paris Masters final. His five titles this season also include triumphs at Wimbledon and in Rome. And his coach, former second-ranked Goran Ivanisevic, had a stark warning for Djokovic's rivals. “He’s practicing even harder than when he was 22," Ivanisevic said. "That’s why he’s still so good and that’s why he’s still going to be even better.”

Bangladesh Navy have lifted the Bangabandhu 7th President Cup Fencing Championship title, winning six gold medals, as many silver medals and three bronze medals. Ansar-VDP became the first runners-up and Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) the second runners-up. The closing ceremony and prize distribution programme of the fencing championship was held on Saturday at the Shaheed Suhrawardy Indoor Stadium in Dhaka's Mirpur. Planning Minister MA Mannan attended the programme as the chief guest. Mesbah Uddin, secretary at the Ministry of Youth and Sports, and Lieutenant General Mainul Islam (retired), vice-president of the Bangladesh Olympic Association, were present as special guests. It was presided over by the Bangladesh Fencing Federation (BFF) President Shoeb Chowdhury. BFF General Secretary Selim Omrao Khan delivered the welcome speech. He sought Bangladesh Olympic Association's cooperation for the further advancement of fencing. Read more: 13th SA Games: Weightlifting, fencing bring more glory for Bangladesh  

On the eve of the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022, the World Health Organization, the Ministry of Public Health of Qatar and FIFA have launched a new digital app designed to help increase physical activity and improve the health and wellbeing of millions of young people.  GenMove, Season1 is a games app that uses advanced movement tracking combined with artificial intelligence (AI) technology to provide 8–15-year-olds with a vigorous video game experience. The games call for a range of different movements that develop different physical skills and are suitable for children with all levels of fitness. WHO recommends all children and adolescents get an average of 60 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic physical activity per day, including activities that strengthen muscles and bones at least 3 times a week, according to a message received here from Doha, Qatar on Saturday. Yet, more than 80% of adolescents do not meet these recommendations and it is estimated that children and adolescents can spend more than 8 hours of their waking day being sedentary and inactive, a behaviour associated with poor fitness, weight gain and reduced sleep. The app is hoped to spur many similar initiatives to get children more active around the world. “Regular physical activity has major, lifelong benefits for physical and mental health, and is essential for the healthy development of children,” said Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General. “WHO is proud to launch GenMove Season1 app with Qatar today. This kind of digital innovation can be powerful tool to reach young people and get them moving, especially children who might not play sports regularly.” The app is launched today by Her Excellency Dr Hanan Mohamed Al Kuwari, Minister of Public Health of Qatar, at the Walk the Talk - Health for All Challenge being held for the first time in the country. The 3- and 5-kilometre walks are being organized to engage people of all ages and abilities, and to promote the benefits of physical activity. “Qatar is proud to launch this important innovation for children on eve of the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™,” said Her Excellency Dr Hanan Mohamed Al Kuwari. “We are committed to doing as much as possible to increase physical activity and build the health of young people here in Qatar and around the world. The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted so hard on young people – limiting physical education and school sports – so it is vital we invest in promoting physical activity and leverage digital technologies to provide new and fun ways to be active.” GenMove games are built around popular sports such as football and involve actions such as jumping, reaching and kicking to build kids’ confidence and enjoyment of moving. The games can be played inside or outside and need only a mobile phone or tablet (IOS or Android) and a small space to get children active. Alisson Becker, WHO Goodwill Ambassador for Health Promotion and Brazil’s national goalkeeper, said: “I love GenMove. Technology opens the world for everybody, but sometimes it can make you stay seated for too much time. So, the GenMove platform helps you with that. At the same time, you can have fun with your kids, or themselves alone, and be doing something healthy.” “The cost to the public health care systems of physical inactivity is very high,” says Dr Fiona Bull, head of the Physical Activity Unit at WHO. “Therefore, getting children to enjoy being active and build habits into every day is critical to preventing future noncommunicable diseases, such as heart disease, overweight and obesity, hypertension, diabetes and many cancers.” GenMove is being teamed up with a complementary football themed FIFA campaign – “Bring the Moves” – which encourages young people to share their goal-celebration moves online and generate a following of active young people throughout the World Cup.

Coming from behind, Acme Chattogram emerged champions of the first franchise-based Hockey Champions Trophy Bangladesh 2022, beating Shakib Al Hasan's Monarch Padma 4-3 in a penalty shootout at the floodlight Maulana Bhasani National Hockey Stadium Thursday evening. The match turned out to be a thriller as its scoreline was locked at 2-2 after the stipulated time in front of a large crowd. Local forward Arshad Hosain scored both goals for Acme Chattogram and was adjudged the player of the final. Japanese players Miya Tanimitsu and Krishna Kumer scored one each for Monarch Padma. Tanimitsu put Monarch Padma ahead in the 14th minute (1-0). Arshad Hossain equalised in the 40th minute with a field goal (1-1). However, Krishna Kumar put Monarch Padma ahead again in the 44th minute with a field goal (2-1). Arshad again restored parity for Acme Chattogram just one minute before the final whistle (2-2), sending the game into a shootout. In the penalty shootout, German player Peer Hinrichs, Farhad Ahmed Shitul, Indian Devindar and Dutch player Kellerman scored for Acme Chattogram. Woohyeong Seo, K Chinglesana and Kiren Ian Govers scored for Monarch Padma. Read more: Hockey Champions Trophy 2022 draft held President of Bangladesh Hockey Federation and Chief of Bangladesh Air Force Air Chief Marshal Shaikh Abdul Hannan was the chief guest in the final and later he distributed the trophy. Champions Acme Chattogram received a cheque of Tk20 lakh as prize money; the runners-up Monarch Padma received a cheque of Tk10 lakh. Obaidul Haque Joy of Cumilla became the most promising player of the tournament; Ashim Gope of Barishal scooped up the best goalkeeper's award. Devindar of Acme Chattogram finished as the top scorer with 18 goals and became the player of the tournament. Mettro Barisal received the fair play trophy of the tournament. Popular singer Momtaz and national cricketer Mehdi Hasan Miraz witnessed the match. Later Momtaz performed her popular songs. Read more: First-ever Hockey Champions Trophy begins Friday Six franchise teams – Acme Chattogram, Mettro Express Barisal, Monarch Padma, Rupayan City Cumilla, Saif Power Group Khulna and Walton Dhaka – took part in the competition.