United News of Bangladesh

Bangladesh secured a place in the semi-finals of the Women’s Kabaddi World Cup after defeating Thailand 40-31, guaranteeing a medal in the tournament. The first half saw intense competition, with Bangladesh leading 14-12 at halftime. Thailand pushed hard in the second half, but the spirited Bangladeshi raiders, led by Rupa and Shraboni, maintained control, achieving a comfortable nine-point victory. The win gave Bangladesh six points in Group ‘A’, confirming their top-four position. Earlier, the team had beaten Uganda and Germany but lost to India in the group stage. During the match, Shraboni Mallik sustained an injury in the ninth minute but returned after treatment. Borsha Bishwas delivered crucial raids, including two all-outs, helping Bangladesh extend their lead to 31-18 before sealing the win. Speaking after the match, Borsha said the team had planned to beat Thailand from the group stage and was happy to see their strategy succeed. “Our focus was the Thailand match, and we gave our best. Now, our next target is the final against Chinese Taipei. We will give our maximum effort,” she said. By reaching the semi-finals, Bangladesh has guaranteed a podium finish. The team has also achieved its pre-tournament goal of surpassing their 2012 World Cup performance, where they had finished fifth. The semi-final berths have also been secured by 2012 champions India and runners-up Iran.  

Chattogram, Dhaka, Khulna, and Rajshahi divisions reached the semifinals of the girls' hockey of the Sheikh Kamal 2nd Bangladesh Youth Games 2023 after winning their matches at the Maulana Bhashani National Hockey Stadium in the capital Sunday. Chattogram Division crushed Barishal Division 8-0 and Dhaka outplayed Sylhet 8-1 in today's last two matches. Earlier in the day's first match, Khulna beat Rangpur 5-4 in the penalty shootout as the match ended 4-4 after regular time. In the day's second match, Rajshahi defeated Mymensingh 3-1 in the penalty shootout as the match ended 1-1 after regular time. Four boys' group matches will be held Monday at the same venue.

In the fifth match of the Super 12s of the ongoing T20 World Cup, the Tigers will take on the Green Shirts Sunday in Adelaide at 10am Bangladesh time. Ahead of this match, Bangladesh played four matches and lost two of them; their latest defeat came against India at the same venue. Despite just two wins from four matches, the Tigers still have a chance of making the semi-finals. But for that, they will have to beat Pakistan and South Africa will have to lose to the Netherlands. Read: T20 World Cup: England make semifinals; Australia eliminated The Bangladesh team had an optional practice session Saturday. Most of the players joined the session, but not Liton Das who suffered a hamstring injury during the Tigers' last match against India. However, Debashis Chowdhry, chief physician of the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB), said Liton's injury is not serious and he is fit to play Sunday's match. Meanwhile, under the current contract, the match is going to be the last match for Sridharan Sriram as the T20 consultant of Bangladesh if the Tigers fail to qualify for the semi-finals. Read: T20 World Cup 2022: Bangladesh vs Pakistan Match Preview, H2H Record, Venue Stats, Likely Playing XI Sridharan said he is not worried about it. "I'm looking forward to winning Sunday's clash against Pakistan." Jalal Yunus, the chairman of BCB's cricket operation department, said they will talk about the contract of Sridharan after the tournament ends.