Sports
Sports organiser Sirajuddin M Alamgir receives "Doctor of Sports" degree from Indian private uni
General Secretary of the Chattogram Divisional Sports Association. member of Bangladesh Olympics Association (BOA) and former Director of Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) Sirajuddin Mohammad Alamgir achieved an honorary Doctorate Degree from Global Human Peace University (GHPU) of India on Saturday (June 18). Founder and Chairman of the GHPU Dr P Manuel handed over the "Doctor of Sports" award to Sirajuddin M Alamgir at a convocation ceremony in Chennai on Saturday.Alamgir, who completed the BA (Hons) and MA Degree from Chittagong University and took BP Ed from National University, now serves as Deputy Director of Physical Education and Sports Science Department of Chittagong University.
He also acted as senior vice president of Bangladesh District and Divisional Sports Organizers' Parishad and senior vice president of the Bangladesh District and Divisional Football Association.Meanwhile, BOA Secretary General Syed Shaheed Reza, president of Bangladesh District and Divisional Sports Organisers' Parishad & former Chittagong City Mayor AJM Nasiruddin and Secretary General of Bangladesh District and Divisional Football Association Tarafder M Ruhul Amin congratulated Sirajuddin M Alamgir for his feat
Youth Chess:Sajid shares top slot in U-12 group
Sakline Mostafa Sajid of Bangladesh shared the top slot in the Under-12 age group of the Western Asian Youth Chess Championship' 2022 with Gautam Krishna of India after the third round matches held at Ukulhas Island of the Maldives Saturday morning.
The third round matches of all the age groups were held on Saturday (June 18) morning.
In the Open U-8 age group, Safayet Kibria Azaan of Bangladesh is in the second position jointly with Palliya Guruge Kemindu Sehas of Sri Lanka securing two and a half points from three games.
Four Bangladesh players--Md. Sajidul Haque in Open U-14 group, Aiyan Rahman in Open U-10 group, Ishrat Jahan Diba in Girls U-14 group and Warsia Khushbu in Girls U-10 group-- collected two points each from three matches.
After the day's 3rd round, Bangladeshi Woman FIDE Master Noshin Anjum in Open-18 group, Syed Ridwan in the Open U-14 group and Kazi Jarin Tasnim in the girls' U-16 group secured one and a half points each.
Read: Prizes of Inter-Bank Chess Tournament distributed
Candidate Master Manon Reja Neer in Open U-18 Group, Mohammad Saker Ullah in Open U-16 Group, Rayan Rashid Mughdha in Open U-8 Group and Jannatul Ferdousi in Girls U-16 Group got one point each from three games.
In the day's third round matches, Sakline beat Bozorov Javokhir of Uzbekistan, Azaan beat Asmi Muhammad Azad of Pakistan, Warsia beat Mukhiadinova Nifufar of Uzbekistan, Diba beat Pragnya HG of India, Ayan beat More Laksh of Nepal. Zarin beat Mirlan Kyzy Azaliia of Kirgizstan and WFM Noshin beat Mujahid Bin Yazeed of Maldives while CM Neer lost to FM Begmuratov Khumoyun of Uzbekistan, Ridwan lost to Sahib Singh of India, Jannatul lost to Wijesinghe of Sri Lanka and Mugdho lost ot Palliya Guruge Kemindu Sehas of Sri Lanka.
The 4th round matches of the meet will be held Sunday from 9 am local time.
Women's Premier Cricket League: Dhaka Mohammedan emerge unbeaten champions
Dhaka Mohammedan emerged as the unbeaten champions of the Dhaka Premier Division Women's Cricket League 2021-22 on a better net run rate as their last match with Indira Road at Savar's BKSP Ground was washed out due to rain Saturday.
The last league match of their nearest rival Rupali Bank with Khelaghar also could not be held due to rain.
Mohammedan and Rupali Bank secured 18 points each from nine matches. But Mohammedan clinched the title due to their better net run rate.
Read: Women’s cricket: All matches abandoned due to rain
Highest scorer
Fargana Hoque Pinky (Rupali Bank, innings 9, 490 runs, highest 124*, average 163.33, strike rate 70.91)
Highest wicket taker
Marufa Aktar (BKSP, matches 10, wickets 22, economy rate 3.36)
Most promising player
Marufa Aktar (BKSP, matches 10, wickets 22, innings 6, 119 runs, strike rate 102.59, highest 63)
Player of the league
Sobhana Mostary (Sheikh Russell Sports Development Academy, matches 9, 307 runs, highest 84*, average 76.75, strike rate 75.62)
England hits ODI world-record 498-4 against the Netherlands
England broke its own world record for the highest score in one-day international cricket by hitting 498-4 against the Netherlands, with Jos Buttler leading the way Friday with an unbeaten 162 off only 70 balls.
The total achieved in Amstelveen, outside Amsterdam, surpassed the 481-6 made by England against Australia at Trent Bridge in June 2018.
While Dawid Malan and Phil Salt also compiled centuries, it was Buttler’s that took the breath away. He reached three figures in 47 balls for the second-fastest hundred for England and his crowd-pleasing knock contained 14 of the team’s 26 sixes.
Buttler now has the three quickest ODI centuries for the national team — off 46 balls, 47 balls and 50 balls.
Liam Livingstone weighed in with a 22-ball 66 not out after joining Buttler for the final 5.2 overs. He brought up England’s fastest ODI fifty, from 17 balls, to beat the one in 21 deliveries set in a partnership between Eoin Morgan and Jonny Bairstow.
Read: Stokes chosen as England test captain
Livingstone had the chance to take England to 500 — a total that would have seemed unrealistic only 20 years ago — by taking strike with two balls left, with his team on 488.
Off the next-to-last ball of the innings, his slog toward the midwicket boundary landed a couple of meters short of the rope and bounced for four. He smashed a six in the same area off the next ball.
The Netherlands — playing an ODI against England for the first time outside a Cricket World Cup — had only a few moments to savor amid a barrage of big-hitting from the tourists, which led to a number of balls being lost outside the stadium.
Shane Snater bowled his cousin, Jason Roy, to leave England 1-1 and Pieter Seelaar took two wickets off successive balls — including Morgan for a golden duck.
Malan’s century was his first in ODIs and came off 90 balls. He now has hundreds in all three formats — the second England player to achieve that feat after Buttler.
Read: Root quits as England test cricket captain after 5 years
England — the defending 50-over world champion — has the top three ODI scores of all time, all of them being recorded since 2016. Dropping to No. 3 in the all-time list is its 444-3 against Pakistan in August 2016, also made at the traditionally fast track at Trent Bridge in Nottingham.
England’s latest huge total was the highest made in either internationals or at first-class level. The previous best was 496-4 by English county team Surrey against Gloucestershire at The Oval in 2007.
FIFA picks 2026 World Cup cities, predicts US `No 1 sport’
The 16 cities of the first World Cup spread across three nations were revealed, and FIFA President Gianni Infantino made a bold statement summing up the goal of the 2026 tournament, to be played largely in the United States.
“By 2026, soccer — or futbol — will be the No. 1 sport in this part of the world,” he proclaimed.
Roughly four years before soccer’s showcase comes to the U.S., Mexico and Canada, there already were winners and losers Thursday: Atlanta, Houston, Miami, Philadelphia, Seattle and Kansas City, Missouri, were among the cities picked after missing out on hosting the 1994 tournament.
Baltimore, Cincinnati, Denver, Nashville, Tennessee, and Orlando, Florida, missed the cut.
Eleven U.S. stadiums were taken, all from the NFL. Arlington, Texas; East Rutherford, New Jersey; Foxborough, Massachusetts, and Inglewood and Santa Clara, California, were holdover areas from the 1994 tournament that boosted soccer’s American prominence.
Mexico City’s Estadio Azteca, which hosted the 1970 and ’86 finals, will become the first stadium in three World Cups, selected along with Guadalajara’s Estadio Akron and Monterrey’s Estadio BBVA.
Sites selected for 2026 World Cup in Canada, US and Mexico
Read: FIFA World Cup 2022: Meet Wales and Other Qualified European teams
Toronto’s BMO Field and Vancouver, British Columbia’s BC Place were picked for Canada’s first time hosting, while Edmonton, Alberta’s Commonwealth Stadium was dropped.
Following the withdrawl of outmoded FedEx Field in Landover, Maryland, Baltimore’s omission means this will be a rare World Cup with no matches in the vicinity of a host’s capital.
“You can’t imagine a World Cup coming to the U.S., the capital city not taking a major role,” said Colin Smith, FIFA’s chief competitions and events officer.
Infantino promised a fan fest on Washington’s National Mall, and locations across the three nations are in play for training sites.
“The story is always who doesn’t get chosen,” U.S. Soccer Federation President Cindy Parlow Cone said.
Infantino’s goal of reaching the top of U.S. sports appears to be quite a reach. The NFL averaged 17.1 million viewers for television and digital during its 2021 season, while the 2018 World Cup averaged 5.04 million on U.S. English- and Spanish-language TV.
“You are leading the world in many areas,” Infantino said about North America, “the objective must be that you will be leading the world, as well, in the world’s No. 1 sport.”
“I know it was giggles and laughs,” North and Central American and Caribbean Confederation President Victor Montagliani said. “He wasn’t joking.”
Infantino defended FIFA’s financial demands on bidding cities and states, which included sales tax exemptions. He said World Cup revenue supports FIFA’s 211 members and 75% could not sustain operations without the money.
“This is something which is definitely a fair compromise, taking into the account the interest of sport and the interests of the host countries,” he said.
The 1994 tournament set records with a 3.59 million total attendance and average of 68,991. The capacities of the U.S. stadiums for 2026 are all 60,000 and higher.
“I think this part of the world doesn’t realize what will happen here in 2026,” Infantino said. “These three countries will be upside down. The world will be invading Canada, Mexico and the United States.”
The bid plan selected in 2018 envisioned 60 games in the U.S. for the first 48-nation Cup, including all from the quarterfinals on, and 10 each in Mexico and Canada.
Specific sites for each round will be announced later, and Infantino said world-wide television times will be a factor for the final, which makes the Eastern and Central times zones more likely. FIFA has gradually moved back the kickoff time of the final from 3:30 p.m. EDT to 10 a.m. EDT for this year’s tournament, which is 10 p.m. in Beijing.
The U.S. selections included none of the nine stadiums used in 1994. The Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California, and Orlando’s Camping World Stadium were the only ones remaining in contention, and they were among the sites dropped in negotiations with stadiums and cities that continued until right before the announcement.
New stadiums were selected in five areas used in 1994. AT&T Stadium in Texas instead of Dallas’ Cotton Bowl, SoFi Stadium in Inglewood for the Rose Bowl and Levi’s Stadium for Stanford Stadium.
Met Life Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, and Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts, replaced torn-down sites that were adjacent, Giants Stadium and Foxboro Stadium.
Three U.S. venues have retractable roofs and Atlanta has a fixed roof. All of the U.S. stadiums but Miami and Kansas City opened in 2002 or later.
Venues have a broader array of pricey seats than in 1994 — the bid book listed a total of 3,757 luxury suites and 76,317 club seats, even before the opening of SoFi, which hosted this year’s Super Bowl.
Eight of the 11 U.S. stadiums have artificial turf and promised to install temporary grass. Dietmar Exler, chief operating officer of AMB Sports & Entertainment, whose NFL Falcons and Major League Soccer team play at Mercedes-Benz, said growing lamps will be used.
“We will study very carefully with FIFA how we can handle and make sure we have the best natural turf available,” he said. “That’s one of the high priority areas for us to focus on.”
Some venues, notably SoFi, cannot currently fit a 68-x-105 meter (75x-115 yard) field and would need renovations to remove seats near sidelines. FIFA made similar demands ahead of 1994 but backed off and allowed some narrower surfaces.
“We have to move out some of the pinch points,” Smith said. “It doesn’t have any material aspect on capacity.”
Read: FIFA World Cup trophy now in Bangladesh
The Detroit area, where the old Pontiac Silverdome hosted games, was cut in 2018 and Baltimore’s M&T Bank Stadium was the capital area’s contender after FedEx dropped out in April. Washington’s RFK Stadium was used in 1994.
Chicago, which hosted the 1994 opener at Solider Field, refused to bid, citing FIFA’s demands.
In contrast to the 1992 site announcement during a news conference, the 2026 announcement was made during a show broadcast from Fox’s studio in Manhattan.
“It’s grown so much in my lifetime,” U.S. star Christian Pulisic said, “and I’m hoping that it can even take that next step.”
DRU ludo competition: Samina champion, Lisa runner-up
Samina Khatun Roshni became the champion, and Maksuda Lisa of Voice of Asia finished runner-up in the ludo competition of the "Walton-Dhaka Reporters Unity (DRU) Summer Sports Festival 2022" held in Dhaka Thursday.
Nargis Jui of Bangladesh Television earned third place in the competition.
DRU President Nazrul Islam Mithu and General Secretary Nurul Islam Hasib inaugurated the competition in the morning.
The men's singles carom competition will be held Sunday.
Also read: V-Day Carom: Robin emerges men’s singles champion
WI vs BAN: Tamim hits a ton in tour match
Bangladesh opener Tamim Iqbal hit a ton in the first innings of the tour match against Cricket West Indies President XI at Coolidge Cricket Ground in Antigua.
Bangladesh ended up day one at 274 for six in 82.5 overs with Tamim being not-out for 140 off 240 deliveries.
While Tamim hit a ton, the other opener Mahmudul Hasan Joy suffered a duck. Mominul Haque, who resigned from his role as Bangladesh Test captain, also suffered a duck.
After Tamim, Najmul Hossain Shanto was the best scorer for Bangladesh posting 54 runs on the board.
For the hosts, Jeremiah Louis bagged two wickets.
In this tour, Bangladesh will play a two-match Test, three-match ODI and three-match T20I series.
Read: Tamim Iqbal needs to wait for more to know his illness
2nd phase of BPL Football begins Sunday
The 2nd phase of the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) Football, the country's most prestigious soccer league, begins on Sunday in Rajshahi and Gopalganj.
In the 2nd phase opener, newcomers Swadhinata KS will play defending champions Bashundhara Kings at 3:30 pm at Muktijoddha Smriti Stadium in Rajshahi.
Also read: BPL Football: Sk Russel beat Swadhinata KS 2-1
In the day's other match, Sheikh Jamal DC will play Uttar Baridhara Club, also at 3:30 pm at Sheikh Fazlul Haque Moni Stadium in Gopalganj.
On the following day (Monday), four matches will be held in Dhaka and other regional venues.
Six times champions Dhaka Abahani Limited will meet Muktijoddha Sangsad KC in Gopalganj while Saif SC will face Bangladesh Police FC in Rajshahi, both will kick off at 3:30 pm.
.In Monday's other matches, Chittagong Abahani will play Rahmatganj MFS at Sylhet District Stadium while Dhaka Mohammedan SC will encounter Sheikh Russel KC at Bashundhara Sports Complex in Dhaka, both will kick-off at 3:30 pm.
After the eleven- round first phase matches, last two times champions Bashundhara Kings comfortably maintained their solo lead in the league table securing 26 points while Dhaka Abahani Ltd followed them distantly with 22 points.
Also read:BPL Football: Kings play 3-3 draw with Sk Jamal; Dhaka Abahani beat Uttar Baridhara 5-2
Two teams-- Sheikh Jamal DC and Chittagong Abahani Ltd --were in the 3rd slot securing 21 points each.
Muktijoddha Sangsad KC and Swadhinata KS are struggling at the bottom places securing seven and six points respectively.
Villarreal keeps on surprising, beats Bayern in CL quarters
Villarreal pulled off another surprising Champions League result, this time against sixth-time champion Bayern Munich to boost its hopes of returning to the semifinals for the first time in 16 years.
After making it past the group stage and eliminating Juventus in the round of 16, the modest Spanish club took a big step toward reaching the last four by holding on to a 1-0 victory against favorite Bayern in the first leg of the quarterfinals on Wednesday.
Also read:Another Benzema hat trick gives Madrid 3-1 edge over Chelsea
Arnaut Danjuma’s goal early in the first half was enough for Villarreal at the La Cerámica Stadium, with Bayern unable to get past the solid defense of Unai Emery’s squad and losing only for the second time in 30 Champions League matches.
Bayern was unbeaten in its last 22 away games in the Champions League, with 17 wins and five draws in a record run that had started after a loss in 2017 to a Paris Saint-Germain team coached by Emery.
The Germans struggled throughout the match on Wednesday and were glad to leave only one goal down.
“We’ll take the 1-0 result," veteran Thomas Müller said. “We know that things could have been a lot worse. We have to pay a lot of respects to our opponents. Now we need to pick ourselves back up for the return leg and hit back.”
The second leg is next week in Munich, where Villarreal will need a draw to get to the semifinals for the first time since its first last-four appearance in the Champions League in 2006. Villarreal stunned Juventus 3-0 in Italy after a 1-1 draw at home in the last 16.
In the other quarterfinal Wednesday, defending champion Chelsea lost 3-1 to Real Madrid in the first leg in London.
“We deserved to lose. We weren’t good today,” Bayern coach Julian Nagelsmann said. “In the first half, we lacked power in defense and had too few chances. The second half was a completely wild game. We gave up control because we were desperate to score, but we could have conceded two more.”
Villarreal looked in control from the start and Bayern struggled to create significant scoring chances. The hosts threatened the most and had some good chances to add to its lead.
“There was talk about them being favorites and wanting to seal their place in the semifinals tonight, but we came out very hungry, very humble,” Villarreal midfielder Giovani Lo Celso said. “There’s no doubt they are one of the best teams in the world, but we managed the game well and could have scored even more goals.”
Danjuma opened the scoring in the eighth minute by redirecting a close-range shot by Dani Parejo as the Bayern defense was caught off guard. It was Danjuma’s sixth goal in nine Champions League appearances this season, and seventh in 11 career games in the competition.
Villarreal thought it had doubled the lead in the 41st but Francis Coquelin’s goal from a tough angle was disallowed for offside.
Also read:Mbappe runs the show in PSG’s 5-1 win over Lorient
Striker Gerard Moreno twice had opportunities to add to Villarreal's lead after that. First with a low shot from outside the area that hit the post in the 53rd, and 10 minutes later after intercepting a bad pass by Bayern goalkeeper Manuel Neuer near midfield and missing his long-range shot into the open net. The ball ended up curling too much as Neuer desperately tried to run back into position.
Bayern increased the pressure near the end but again it was Villarreal that nearly added to the lead when substitute Alfonso Pedraza missed from close range on a counterattack in the 87th.
Villarreal did a good job containing Robert Lewandowski throughout the match and he had few opportunities inside the area. He entered the match as the Champions League’s leading scorer with 12 goals from eight matches and had scored seven goals in his last five games in all competitions. The Poland striker is ranked third on the all-time list of Champions League scorers, behind Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi.
Bayern's Canadian player Alphonso Davies made his first appearance since Dec. 17 after a long injury layoff because of cardiac issues.
Villarreal, based in a city of about 50,000 people, is playing in the quarterfinals for the first time in 13 years. It qualified for the Champions League by winning last season’s Europa League.
Bayern was eliminated by PSG at this stage last season. The German club made it to the last eight 10 times in the last 11 seasons. The team is playing in the quarterfinals for a record 20th time.
The winner will play either Benfica or Liverpool in the semifinals. Liverpool won the first leg in Lisbon 3-1.
Another Benzema hat trick gives Madrid 3-1 edge over Chelsea
Back-to-back Champions League hat tricks just reinforce the enduring value of Karim Benzema's clinical finishing to Real Madrid.
Carlo Ancelotti sees so much more being provided by the 34-year-old forward he compares to a fine wine.
“He is more of a leader every day,” the Madrid coach said after Benzema's goals produced a 3-1 victory over Chelsea in the quarterfinals on Wednesday. “He feels more and more important in this team and I think that’s what makes the difference. He has so much more personality. He is an example for everyone.”
Also read:Villarreal keeps on surprising, beats Bayern in CL quarters
This latest goal burst could end Chelsea’s title defense, barring the type of second-leg collapse by Madrid that Paris Saint-Germain endured last month at the the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium.
Benzema now has 37 goals in 36 games in all competitions this season, including the three that turned around the last-16 meeting with PSG.
“They’re magic nights,” Benzema said. “Today we came out to win, to show we’re Real Madrid. Things worked out well for us as we played well, from the first minute to the last.”
The France international is almost single-handedly keeping the Spanish giants on the path to a record-extending 14th European Cup — and a fifth for himself — and powering them to regaining the La Liga title.
Of Madrid's last 11 goals, 10 have been scored by the mainstay of the team for the last 13 years.
The first two at Stamford Bridge were thumping headers inside three first-half minutes in the driving rain, while the third was gifted to him in a manner that raised doubts about whether Chelsea can muster a comeback in Madrid on Tuesday.
“I think it helped us that our build-up play from the back was good,” said Ancelotti, who won the 2010 Premier League with Chelsea. “We found space between the lines. And then with Benzema and Vinicius we were dangerous.”
Chelsea had given itself hope of recovering when Kai Havertz reduced the deficit with a header five minutes before halftime from Jorginho’s cross.
But only a minute of the second half had elapsed when Chelsea’s slack defending proved so costly.
Edouard Mendy was about 30 yards out from goal when the ball came to him and the goalkeeper brought it down with his chest. Rather than clearing down the field, he sent a short pass tamely to the dawdling Antonio Rüdiger. It was a gift for Benzema to intercept before striking into the unprotected net with Mendy still stranded outside the penalty area.
“I’m happiest to have scored the third," he said, "as I missed one in the first half and I was thinking about that chance because it’s very important to score goals. Then I got another and I’m very happy.”
The precision of Benzema’s first-half headers -- after getting on the end of crosses from Vinicius Jr. in the 21st minute and Luka Modric in the 24th — was in contrast to the shortcomings of Chelsea’s No. 9. Substitute Romelu Lukaku had a great chance with a header of his own when there was still more than 20 minutes to go, but glanced it wide of the post, resulting in groans around Stamford Bridge.
“Very important," Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel said of the miss.
An all-English semifinal is looking less likely. The winner of this quarterfinal will face Manchester City or Atletico Madrid, with City ahead 1-0 after Tuesday's first leg at the Etihad Stadium.
Also read:UEFA Champions League 2022: Top favourites to reach the semi-finals
Asked whether his quarterfinal was still alive, Tuchel sharply replied: “No.”
It showed his frustration after his team's hold on third place in the Premier League was loosened by a surprising 4-1 loss to Brentford on Saturday.
“We have to find our level back,” Tuchel said, “but we don't know where it is.”
The most significant action might not even have been on the field for Chelsea on Wednesday. Los Angeles Dodgers co-owner Todd Boehly flew in for the game as the tussle to buy the team from sanctioned Russian owner Roman Abramovich intensifies, with the contenders whittled down in recent weeks.
It just adds to the uncertainty hanging over the west London team.
"I will not accept it as an excuse," Tuchel said.
There was a surprise in Wednesday’s other quarterfinal with Bayern Munich losing 1-0 at Villarreal.