Defending champions Bangladesh will play Thailand and Chinese Taipei will face Iraq in two semi-finals of the Bangabandhu Cup International Kabaddi Tournament' 2023 on Monday (March 20) at the Shaheed Noor Hossain Volleyball Stadium here.
Hosts Bangladesh will play the first semifinal against the Group B runners up Thailand at 4 pm while
Group B champions Chinese Taipei will encounter Group A runners-up Iraq in the other semifinal at 5 pm on Monday.
Earlier, defending champions Bangladesh emerged Group A champions to reach the semifinal with all-win record securing full ten points from straight five matches while Iraq stormed into the semifinal as the Group A runners securing eight points from five matches after beating England by 47-36 points in a hard-fought match Sunday afternoon.
After the Group B matches, both the Chinese Taipei and Thailand have secured eight points each from all the five group matches, but in the net points Chinese Taipei (76-61 points) emerged group champions and Thailand finished group runners-up to reach the semifinals..
In the day's other matches, Thailand earned the 4th victory to reach the semis beating Indonesia by 55-26 points with three lonas (all out) after dominating the first half by 29-14 points while Kenya failed to make a semifinal berth from Group B despite beating Sri Lanka by 41-34 points with two lonas after leading the first half by 23-16 points, both at the Shaheed Noor Hossain Volleyball Stadium on Sunday.