Holders India and hosts Bangladesh reached the finals of both the Youth (U-17) and Junior (U-19) groups of the 3rd edition of four-nation Bangabandhu IHF Challenge Trophy Women’s Handball' 2023 at the Shaheed Captain (Retd)  M Mansur Ali National Handball Stadium here on Sunday (May 14).

India and Bangladesh ensured the finals of both the Youth and Junior groups of the prestigious meet with one match to spare securing full six points each crushing Nepal and Maldives in first two matches at Shaheed Captain (retd)  M Mansur Ali National Handball Stadium in the capital.

Bangladesh and India will meet each other in the last league basis matches of both the youth and junior sections on Monday (May 15) before playing the finals on Wednesday  (May 17) at the same venue.

The 3rd-place deciding match between two pointless teams, Nepal and the Maldives,  billed for Tuesday (May 16) afternoon 

In the Youth (U-17) Group, defending champions India, which crushed Nepal by 47-1 goals in the opening match on Saturday,  today (Sunday) outplayed the Maldives by 42-14 goals to assure the final berth.

In the Junior (U-19) group, India,  which outplayed Nepal by 46-8 goals on Saturday, today (Sunday) confirmed the final berth crushing the Maldives by 
55-9 goals in their 2nd match.

Hosts Bangladesh, which  made a flying start in the Youth (U-17) group outplaying the Maldives by 48 -10 goals on Saturday,  today ( Sunday) assured the final berth by beating Nepal by 50-4 goals after dominating the first half 24-2 goals.

In the Junior (U-19) group, Bangladesh. which made a good start beating the  Maldives by 38-21 goals on Saturday, today (Sunday) outplayed Nepal by 23-9 goals after leading the first half by 13-5 goals.

Shyamoli of Bangladesh scored the match's highest 12 goals.

Despite getting a big win, the coach of Bangladesh Youth team, Dalia Aktar, expressed her dissatisfaction over the match saying, “We may have won by a margin of many goals, but if the opponent were tough, I could handle myself a little better.”

Explaining the reason, she said as our next match is against mighty India and they play world class handball, so it would have been better for us if we had a stronger opponent.

Commenting about Dipa Rani, who played a major role behind Bangladesh's crushing victory, the Bangladesh coach lauded her performance by saying that Dipal consistently did well like last match and she has done remarkably well in every position wherever she has been given to play.

Amjad Akhand, the coach of the Junior team, looked forward to put a good show against India tomorrow. 

“I fielded some new players today and observed them closely, I am satisfied with their performances, against India we have to raise our game, most of them are more experienced than my players, however we are determined to fight till the end,” said Amjad.

Bangladesh will face India in the youth group at 3pm while meeting the Indian junior team at 4:30 pm on Monday in the last league matches.