Dhaka, Nov 18 (UNB) – The Teer 2nd National Youth Archery Championships being organised by Bangladesh Archery Federation under its “Teer Go For Gold” project begins on Monday at the Archery Training Centre of Shaheed Ahsanullah Master Stadium in Tongi.

Thirty boy and 17 girl archers from five teams will compete in the two-day competition in 12 Recurve and Compound events—six for boys and six for girls. 

Bangladesh Archery Federation (BAF) in going to arrange the 2nd version of the national youth competition under the sponsorship of City Group, eyeing medals from the Tokyo Olympics 2020. 

General Secretary of Bangladesh Archery Federation Kazi Razibuddin Ahmed Chapal disclosed the details of the meet at a press conference at the Dutch Bangla Auditorium of BOA on Sunday afternoon.

BAF Vice-president Anisur Rahman Dipu and Marketing Manager of City Group M Farzanul Haque were also present on the occasion.
 

Chattogram, Nov 18 (UNB) – Mentioning that West Indies are a tough opponent, Bangladesh head coach Steve Rhodes on Sunday said the Zimbabwe series has helped them prepare well for the upcoming home series against the visitors.

“I think in Sylhet and Mirpur, Zimbabwe made us fight all the way. Some people might be a little bit surprised at the 1-1 result and the hard-fought series. I think it will do us a lot of good going into a contest against West Indies who are obviously tough opposition. We needed to go there with some tough games under our belt,” he said.

The coach came up with the remarks while talking to journalists at Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium in Chattogram.

However, the coach is hopeful and looking forward to better results in the series as he said, “We saw them in July, but the condition here in Bangladesh is very different and hopefully we’ll have a really good two games against them.”

The coach wants to make sure that game is his boys’ own game; rather than the opponent's strength. “You should make sure about your own game. If you play your own game, then you will go a long way.”

Having back skipper and world-famed all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan in the team, Rhodes expressed his excitement saying, “It's great having back [Shakib]. We know he [Shakib] is a much tactician. He is a really important cock for a successful Bangladesh team,” the coach continued.

Regarding the bowling strength of West Indies, he said, “The obvious thing is that West Indies get a couple of quicks, especially Shannon Gabriel with his eclectic pace and fires. He is a dangerous proposition. He could be a dangerous character. We need to get rid of him. You know we don’t worry too much about the opposition.”

Replying to a query about Bangladesh’s 1-1 draw in Test series against Zimbabwe, the head coach said, “Zimbabwe proved to be a very tough opposition. They have learnt a lot from the trip to South Africa and they came here and did extremely well. So, I’m very pleased to get these results.”

The first Test will begin at Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium in Chattogram on November 22 while the second one at Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium in Dhaka on November 30.
 

Dhaka, Nov 18 (UNB) – The Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) Football, scheduled to begin on November 30, has been deferred by more than one month due to ensuing 11th parliamentary elections.

Now, the league will begin in the first week of January.

Following appeals of the participating clubs, the BFF Professional Football League Committee took the decision at a meeting at the BFF board room on Sunday with committee chairman and BFF senior vice-president Abdus Salam Murshedy MP in the chair.

The meeting also decided to start the Independence Cup Football Tournament on November 30.
 

Dhaka, Nov 18 (UNB) – Defending champions Dhaka Abahani Limited will play three times champions Sheikh Jamal Dhanmondi Club in the first semifinal of Walton Federation Cup football on Monday after a one-week recess at the country’s premier sports venue -- Bangabandhu National Stadium.

The match will kick off at 5 pm. Channel 9 will telecast the match live.

Studded with national stars, big-budgeted newcomers Bashundhara Kings will play the 2nd semifinal against Sheikh Russel KC on Tuesday at 5 pm at the same venue.    
 
The 10th times champions sky-blue popular Dhanmondi outfit Dhaka Abahani Limited need just two wins to celebrate their hat-trick championship while Sheikh Jamal, which were eliminated from the last year’s meet losing to Dhaka Abahani in the semifinal, are now ready to take revenge of their defeat.

Sheikh Jamal Dhanmondi Club smartly booked a seat for the semifinals with unbeaten runs beating Nofel SC 2-1, drew 1-1 with Bashundhara Kings and Dhaka Mohammedan SC in group matches and eliminated Saif SC 2-1 in the quarterfinal.

On the way to the semifinals, Dhaka Abahani beat Muktijoddha SKC 1-0 and conceded 0-1 defeat against Sheikh Russel KC in group affairs and beat Arambagh KS 3-2 in the quarterfinal.

Chattogram, Nov 18 (UNB) – Bangladesh top-order batsman Soumya Sarkar wants to play long innings if he gets a spot in the best eleven in the first Test against West Indies, which is scheduled to begin at Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium here on November 22.
 
“I’ll try to play a good game. No matter in what position I play, I’ll try to survive at the crease for a long time. It’ll be possible for me to play long innings when I’m able to tackle bowlers at the beginning,” he said after the first day’s play of a two-day warm-up match against West Indies at MA Aziz Stadium in Chattogram on Sunday.  
 
Soumya, who played Test last in October 2017 and has got a call for the first Test against the visitors, thinks host bowlers will need to deliver more quality bowling in the main battle as the West Indies batsmen handled Bangladesh spinners quite well on the first day of the practice match. “If we can produce quality [spin] bowling in a good position continuously, they may fail to overcome,” Soumya said in reply to a query about the spin bowling strength.     
 
“Our spinners bowled well and they [West Indies batsmen] also handled those in a good manner. They played their last series against India, so they’ve become acquainted with the spin bowling than before. I think they’re well-prepared though there will be more pressure in the main game,” he added.
 
The southpaw feels that the Bangladesh team get stronger with the return of skipper Shakib Al Hasan recovering from his finger injury. “Shakib bhai is a big part of our game. All team members are happy with his return. In the last series, our team played good and we hope we’ll play better with his return,” Soumya concluded.