Defending champions Bangladesh will face Chinese Taipei in the final match of the 12-nation Bangabandhu Cup '2023 International Kabaddi Tournament on Tuesday (March 21) at 12.15 pm at the Shaheed Noor Hossain Volleyball Stadium here.
State Minister for Youth and Sports Zahid Ahsan Russell MP will be the chief guest in Tuesday's final and will distribute the trophies at the closing function to be chaired by president of the Bangladesh Kabaddi Federation (BKF) and Inspector General of Bangladesh Police Chowdhury Abdullah Al Mamun
Last two times champions Bangladesh stormed into the final eliminating Thailand by 45-26 points in the first semifinal Monday afternoon after dominating the first half by 17-11 points.
With the day's feat, Bangladesh earned the right to play in the World Cup and Asian Games Kabaddi directly as the finalists of the ongoing meet.
Chinese Taipei booked a seat for the final eliminating Iraq by 52-44 points with two lonas (all-out) after leading the first half by 31-16 points. Cheng-Chih Chang of Chinese Taipei named as the man of the match.
In the day's first semifinal, Bangladesh, ranked number 5th in the world, had a cautious start against the 9th ranked Thailand.
Bangladesh initially went down by 2-3 points in the 6th minute of the match, but they leveled the margin 7-7 in the 13th minute.
However, Bangladesh's inspiring captain Tuhin Tarafder ousted three Thai players in the 16th minute by a magnificent raid to change the scenario of the match.
Bangladesh earned the first Lona (all-out) by a superb raid by Tuhin and started firing all the cylinders.
After the first half, Bangladesh concentrated upon keeping the lead taking more points with raids rather than catching the Thai attackers.
However, Roman Hossain of Bangladesh branded a super performance in the dying minute with his precise catching.
Thailand raider Chayaphon Kamunee troubled Bangladesh defense line-up scoring eight points but the Thailand was unable to break the superiority of the defending champions.
Tuhin Tarafder scored 11 points while Mizanur Rahman, the rising star, also bagged 11 points for Bangladesh.
Later, Tuhin Tarafder was adjudged the Man of the Match.