State Minister for Youth and Sports Aminul Haque on Thursday said Bangladeshi athletes must shift their mindset from mere participation to fighting for medals on global stages.
“We do not want to go anywhere merely to participate; we will fight for medals, we must cultivate that mindset,” he said.
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He made these remarks while inaugurating the four-day Open Prize Money Table Tennis Ranking Tournament 2024, organised by the Bangladesh Table Tennis Federation (BTTF), at the Shaheed Tajuddin Ahmed indoor stadium in the capital.
“Whether it is the South Asian Games, the Asian Games, or the highest stage like the Olympics, we must train our players to be true competitors,” he added.
The State Minister revealed that the ministry is rigorously reviewing the activities of athletes receiving state allowances every four months.
“We have completed our latest four-month review. Based on the information I have, about 31 athletes are currently on a list to be replaced because they had no sporting activities or participation,” he said, adding that the verification process is ongoing.
He said athletes must participate in a minimum of four national and three international tournaments to retain their stipends.
He announced that table tennis will be officially included in the second edition of the nationwide 'Notun Kuri Sports' program.
“We want to unearth table tennis talents not just from Dhaka, but from every upazila, district, and division. To facilitate this, we have already taken initiatives to provide at least one table tennis board to every Upazila Sports Association,” he said.
The State Minister assured the athletes that a renovation project has been undertaken to install air conditioning and modernize the indoor stadium’s facilities shortly.
The Open Prize Money Ranking Tournament, which will run until September 13, features singles events exclusively across four categories: Under-19 boys, Under-19 girls, men's, and women's. Through this competition, the ranking points from 2024 will be replaced to finalize an updated national ranking list.