Bangladeshi female athletes don't get much attention like male athletes. However, Bangladesh women's national cricket team created some hype for the past few years. Apart from cricket, there are some other sports where Bangladeshi women participate successfully. Other games and sports may include football, swimming, archery, weightlifting, and so on. Many Bangladeshi women athletes have been playing these sports and represent the country worldwide. But we may have heard their name once or twice in our media. That being said, we have listed some famous women athletes who are assets for Bangladesh and bringing fame to the country.
The Most Notable Women Athletes in Bangladesh
Shirin Akter, Sprinter
Shirin Akter is a Bangladeshi sprinter who played in the 2016 Summer Olympics. She was born in Satkhira, and currently plays for Bangladesh Navy. Shirin ran 100m and won multiple national titles. In total, she won 33 national, and 27 of those are gold and six silvers.
However, she also has some international achievements. Shirin 4 bronze medals for the country. The best timing for Shirin is 11.99s, which she earned in the 2016 SA games heats. She is active in athletics events.
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Jahanara Alam, Cricketer
Jahanara Alam plays for the Bangladesh national women's cricket team. She is a medium-fast bowler and right-handed batsman. Jahanara was born and raised in Khulna. She debuted her One Day International career in November 2011agianst Ireland women's cricket team. However, she started her T20 career against India Women's cricket team in 2012.
In her ten years of career, Jahanara bagged numerous records. Such as, she was the first Bangladeshi female fast bowler to take five wickets in a match. Jahanara Alam has been playing consistently and participated in major events for Bangladesh.
She played in the 2018 ICC Women's world cup and 2019 South Asian games. She also called for the 2020 ICC Women's T20 world cup. So far Jahanara has played 38 ODIs and 71 T20s. With a 38.19 strike rate, Jahanara is one of the Top female cricketers in Bangladesh.
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Sabina Khatun, Footballer
Sabina Khatun is one of the best Bangladeshi international footballers. She plays at forwarding position in Bangladesh in Bangladesh team as well as Indian Women's League. 27-year-old Sabina was born in Shatkhira, Khulna.
She started her international career in 2009. However, her tremendous performance made her the national team captain in four years. Sabina plays for the Bashundhara Kings at Bangladesh Women's football league.
Besides performing on the field, Sabina was also involved with humanitarian activities. In 2019, she became the Save the Children ambassador, which clearly indicates her social responsibilities.
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Mabia Akhter, Weightlifter
Mabia is a Bangladeshi weightlifter who was born in Madaripur. She came into the weightlifting category via her maternal uncle. However, Mabia got some international prizes such as a bronze in the 2012 South Asian Weightlifting, a silver in the 2013 Commonwealth Weightlifting Championship.
Her best prize came in 2016 at the south Asia Games, in which she won a gold medal in the 63 kg weight class. However, Mabia Akter also shed light on her youth too.Mabia won a gold medal in the Commonwealth Weightlifting Championships youth section. Mabia works at Bangladesh Ansar.
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Sultana Kamal, Sprinter
Sultana Kamal is famously known as Bangabandhu's son Sheikh Kamal's wife. However, she was one of the prominent athletes in her time. Apart from the extra-curricular activities, Sultana was a brilliant student too, who studied at the University of Dhaka. She used to participate in multiple games such as long jump, sprint and etc. However, Sultana Kamal held national records in 100 meters race and long jump.
Despite all the skills, she had a brief career as she was assassinated along with her family. Otherwise, she had the potentiality to bring more fames to the country.
Sonia Akter Tumpa, Swimmer
Usually, Sonia participates in a 50m freestyle for Bangladesh Navy. Born in 1997 at Jhenaidah, Sonia holds some records. She won 6 national titles and 95 medals. Sonia was equally talented in international events too. She earned two bronzes in the 2010 and 2016 SA Games.
In the 50m, freestyle category Tumpa's best timing was 30.86s. She was selected for the 2016 Bangladesh Olympic Team for the 50m freestyle swimming. However, her 30.86s record was negligible compared to the other Olympic swimmers, but still, she tried to get something for Bangladesh.
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Shyamoli Roy, Archer
Shyamoli Roy is a competitive archer who participated in the 2016 summer Olympics. However, she was the only archer from Bangladesh, and her 0-6 defeat at the Olympics was her last event in any Olympics.
Though Shyamoli does not have enough international events, she is entitled to a few national medals. At the national level, she won 6 medals while the international won just one bronze medal.
One of the best achievements was playing at the 33rd Asian Archery in 2015 and debuting at the Olympics in the following year. Shyamoli's best score of 618 points came in 2015 at the Asian Archery event.
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Zobera Rahman Linu, Table Tennis Player
Zobera Rahman Linu is a female legend in Bangladesh women's table tennis history. She won 16 national championships from 1979 to 2001. Her extraordinary tennis skill and achievements laned her Bangladesh National Sports Award in 1999.
Linu was raised in Sylhet but passed SSC from Narsingdi. Later she came to Dhaka and earned HSC and BA from Lalmatia Girls college. However, she held a master's degree from Jagannath College.
Linu started playing table tennis when she was 8. Later she won singles, doubles, and mixed doubles championships. Zobera also participated in Asian Table Tennis Championship in Japan in 1980 and stood 5th place.
Conclusion
These eight women athletes are famous in the Bangladeshi sports industry. Although our sports industry is very narrow and cricket gets all the focus. That is why women athletes from different sports are neglected. Besides, the proper authority does not offer budgets for the female players. However, these athletes can raise their voices to build up more female athletes across the country.