ePaper_2nd Edition_October 12, 2016

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DT 26 WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 12, 2016 Sport POST-MORTEM OF BANGLADESH FOOTBALL Is it the end of a tunnel? • Shishir Hoque The crisis existing in Bangladesh football right now is nothing new. It has been several years since their decline began while some would even argue that it stretches back as far as a decade. But Monday’s humiliating defeat against Bhutan was so abject that it was labelled in many quarters as the death of Bangladesh football. Let’s face the facts first. Bangladesh were never among the top 100 teams in the world ever since the creation of the ranking system in 1993. They had never been a big team in Asia as well. They were one of the best teams in South Asia but that was more than a decade ago. In recent years, they had been being outplayed regularly against the likes of Afghanistan, India, Maldives and Nepal. Losing to Bhutan for the first time in history was not the biggest concern. It can happen to any team in the world but what was difficult to accept was their uninspiring performance. Therefore, the time has finally come for Bangladesh football to rebuild from scratch. Looking back to the year 2003, Bangladesh had won their first and only South Asian Football Federation title till date. They finished runners-up in the following edition two years later. Most of the players were at their peak. However, since then, almost all the players of the title-winning squad have retired. A new generation of players are being groomed by the Bangladesh Football Federation. With that said, it is well known that the BFF has failed to predict the future of the country’s football scenario. Football’s governing body in the country seems to be lacking the word “development” in its vocabulary. They somehow managed to make domestic league regular on the pitch but has rarely made any attempt to produce players. It took 43 years for them to finally build a football academy but since then three years have elapsed with absolutely no activity taking place there. Looking back in time, it is no surprise to see Bangladesh struggling. What’s more, the BFF has failed to add any glamour to domestic football. Questions regarding the players’ professionalism are refusing to go away. There has also been allegations of match-fixing for a long time now. The BFF’s lack of attention towards the players’ development and non-professionalism from the clubs have ensured that the new generation of footballers would be vulnerable technically, physically and psychologically. Majority of the players these days have rarely contributed to the national team’s cause. Bangladesh have no major Fifa/ Afc events at least for the next two years, right until the beginning of the qualifying round of the 2022 World Cup and the 2023 Asian Cup. This period should be utilised properly by the relevant authorities. Ten out of 23 players from the latest squad against Bhutan will be over 30 years old in the next two years, including the likes of Mamunul Islam, Jahid Hasan Ameli and Mamun Miah, among others. BFF general secretary Abu Nayeem Shohag admitted there is no return from where they are now. He spoke with authority that the BFF will “look after everything, make overall planing and assessment”. The words however, are nothing new. There maybe a new group of players but what about the situation of the footballers in the pipeline? Apparently, they are nowhere near good enough. Who are to blame? The federation, the clubs or the players? There is plenty of time now to ponder and rebuild again. Along with the results and performances, there has been instability of head coaches in the national team. The coach has been changed as many as 19 times in the last 10 years, including four in the previous 12 months. Now, Bangladesh must appoint a permanent coach for the long term, at least for three to four years. The Asian Football Confederation will introduce the Solidarity Cup next month with the participation of teams who have failed to qualify for the Asian Cup Qualifiers. The opportunity to play international friendlies has increased over the years so there will still be some platform to see how the newly-shaped football team would do in the upcoming years. From next year onward, the football federation will get more than double the financial support from Fifa than they used to get previously. They are preparing a plan of their future activities that they will present to the world football’s governing body in a month. In the context of the current situation, the national team and development of the players should be the top-most priorities in the proposal. Will the BFF finally learn and be serious? Because if they don’t act soon, the country’s football will be non-existent sooner rather than later. • 18TH NCL, RD 3, DAY 4 TIER 1 DHAKA 523 v BARISAL 103/1d Match drawn KHULNA 293 v DHAKA METROPOLIS 59/0d Match drawn TIER 2 RANGPUR 234 & 233/7 in 79 overs (Saymon 94, Jahid 52, Sanjamul 4/106) v RAJSHAHI 268 Match drawn SYLHET 444 & 243/5d in 42 overs (Zakir 86, Kapali 58, Arif 3/85) v CHITTAGONG 315 & 146/9 in 57.3 overs (Saeed 68, Rahatul 5/48, Yasir 23) Match drawn POINTS TABLE TIER 1 Teams M W L D Pts Barisal 3 0 0 3 23 Khulna 3 0 0 3 19 Dhaka Metro 3 0 0 3 15 Dhaka 3 0 0 3 13 TIER 2 Teams M W L D Pts Rajshahi 3 1 0 2 33 Rangpur 3 1 0 2 28 Sylhet 3 0 1 2 19 Chittagong 3 0 1 2 18 Action from the IHF Trophy match between the Bangladesh women’s team and their Afghanistan counterparts in Dhaka yesterday Bangladesh men, women reach IHF semis • Tribune Report Hosts Bangladesh, Nepal and arch-rivals India and Pakistan reached the semi-finals in the men’s category of the International Handball Federation Trophy after winning their respective matches yesterday. In the women’s section, Bangladesh, India, Sri Lanka and Pakistan completed the semi-finals line up. Bangladesh women’s team defeated Afghanistan 34-7 in the first match. Bangladesh led the first half 16-2. Rubina was the highest-scorer with nine goals for Bangladesh. The second match of the day in the women’s section was a nail-biting affair with Pakistan edging Nepal 21-20. Nepal were leading 20-19 moments away from the final whistle before Pakistan scored two goals in the last minute to register COURTESY an exciting victory. Sehar Iqbal of Pakistan was the highest scorer with nine goals. Nisha Roy of Nepal also netted nine. In the third match of day, India beat Maldives 51-13 to cruise into the last four. Menika and Nidhi scored nine and eight goals respectively for India. In the men’s category, Nepal prevailed over Maldives 32-21 in the first match of the day. KC Chandra of Nepal netted nine times to steer his team to victory. Mohammad Firoz scored eight goals for the losing side. In the second match of the day, Pakistan outplayed Afghanistan 44-20 to top the group. Belal scored highest 11 goals for Pakistan. Both the teams progressed to the last four. In the third match of the day, Bangladesh outplayed Sri Lanka.•
Sport 27 DT WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 12, 2016 QUICK BYTES Smiling Sharapova plays Las Vegas charity event Maria Sharapova set foot on a tennis court for the first time since her positive drug test at the Australian Openon Monday, smiling throughout an appearance in the World Team Tennis Smash Hits charity event in Las Vegas. The Russian star, who last week earned a reduction in her drug ban that will allow her to return to tennis in April, played in two light-hearted doubles matches in the event at Caesar’s Palace to benefit the Elton John AIDS Foundation. Sharapova lost her doubles match with American youngster Taylor Johnson when they faced Martina Navratilova and Liezel Huber. The 29-year-old indicated had felt a hint of nerves along with her 16-year-old doubles partner Johnson. –AFP Iran fans banned from celebrating on holy day Iranian football fans faced a tricky balancing act Tuesday as they prepared for a clash with South Korea in the midst of a religious holiday in which they are banned from expressing joy. Many took part in mourning processions as they gathered at the 75,000-capacity Azadi (“freedom”) stadium in Tehran to mark the eve of Ashura, one of the holiest days in the Iranian calendar. For Shiite Muslims, Ashura marks the death of Imam Hussein in the seventh century, and is traditionally a day of sombre processions through the streets, in which black-clad men beat their chests and heads in anger and despair. –AFP DAY’S WATCH CRICKET GAZI TV, BTV, STAR SPORTS 4 2:30PM England Tour of Bangladesh 3rd ODI TEN 3 5:30PM Australia Tour of South Africa 5th ODI STAR SPORTS 1 10:00AM New Zealand Tour of India 3rd Test, Day 5 FOOTBALL STAR SPORTS 1 7:30PM Indian Super League Pune v North East United KABADDI STAR SPORTS 2 Kabaddi World Cup 2016 8:30PM Poland v Japan 9:40PM Australia v Argentina 3RD TEST, DAY 4 INDIA 557/5d & 216/3d in 49 overs (Pujara 101, Gambhir 50, Patel 2/56) beat NEW ZEALAND 299 & 153 (Ashwin 7/59, Jadeja 2/45, Taylor 32) by 321 runs ICC TEST RANKINGS Rank Team Matches Pts Rating 1 India 29 3328 115 2 Pakistan 25 2767 111 3 Australia 36 3905 108 4 England 41 4427 108 5 S Africa 25 2412 96 6 Sri Lanka 32 3055 95 7 New Zealand 35 3189 91 8 West Indies 26 1749 67 9 Bangladesh 12 687 57 10 Zimbabwe 7 54 8 Former cricketer Sunil Gavaskar presenting the ICC Test Championship mace to Indian skipper Virat Kohli after the end of 3rd Test match against New Zealand in Indore yesterday AP Kohli receives mace after India tops Test rankings • AFP, Indore Skipper Virat Kohli was on Tuesday presented with the ICC Test Championship mace as India were officially crowned the number one side after their 3-0 thrashing of New Zealand. India, who had reclaimed the top spot in the world Test rankings after taking an unassailable 2-0 series lead in Kolkata, won the third and final Test by 321 runs Tuesday to consolidate their position. Batting legend and ICC Hall of Famer Sunil Gavaskar presented Kohli with the mace on behalf of the International Cricket Council at Indore’s Holkar Stadium. Kohli was only the second India captain after Mahendra Singh Dhoni and the 10th overall to receive the mace since its introduction in 2001. The others are Steve Waugh, Ricky Ponting, Michael Clarke, Steve Smith (Australia), Andrew Strauss (England), Graeme Smith, Hashim Amla (South Africa) and Misbah-ul-Haq (Pakistan). India are now four points in the ratings above arch-rivals Pakistan, who enjoyed the top spot only briefly after Misbah received the mace last month in Lahore. “I’ve got a few Man of the Match awards, so have the boys. This is much more special. The last time India got the mace, I was watching Zimbabwe appoint Streak as coach • AFP, Harare Former Zimbabwe captain Heath Streak has been appointed national cricket head coach to replace Dav Whatmore who was dismissed in June. “Zimbabwe Cricket has named former captain Heath Streak as the new national head coach,” Zimbabwe Cricket (ZC) said in a statement on Tuesday. The 42-year-old was unveiled at a press conference in Zimbabwe’s second largest city Bulawayo after accepting a two-year contract. “For me, having captained this country, to be offered the post of head coach is a great honour and I know with it comes responsibility not just to the players but to the fans and supporters of Zimbabwe cricket as well,” Streak said. “My promise is, I will leave no stone unturned in terms of our endeavour and our quest to improve the team’s performances. “I believe that we have the resources here in Zimbabwe to do just that and planning is obviously going to be a major factor.” Streak previously coached a local cricket team and had stints as bowling coach for Bangladesh and Zimbabwe. He takes over as Zimbabwe bid to qualify for the 2019 ICC Cricket World Cup. His immediate assignments are a two-match Test series at home to Sri Lanka, and a one-day international tri-series involving West Indies. “I feel that with the upcoming series and the latter half of next year we have some really good cricket coming up so we can really work towards improving,” he said. “I do see a strong future. Obviously things don’t just happen overnight. It’s a process but I know that process can happen quickly and for me that will be a big goal to facilitate that,” he said. • on TV,” said a delighted Kohli. “The key right now is maintaining our game. We’re working really hard on the areas needing improvement and we’ve been able to correct the wrongs quickly and we’d like to continue that and give the people what they want to see.” India had replaced Australia at the top of the rankings after their series win against the West Indies in August, only to be leapfrogged by Pakistan later. • Don’t rule out Roger and Rafa, warns Djokovic • AFP, Shanghai Novak Djokovic said Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal still rate among the world’s best on Tuesday after they both dropped out of the top four for the first time in 13 years. Djokovic said it would be unwise to omit Federer and Nadal from an assessment of the world’s top players despite a new wave of talent which is fast closing on the elite ranks. This week’s updated ATP tennis rankings are missing both Federer, 35, and Nadal, 30, who have 31 Grand Slam titles between them, for the first time since 2003. “It’s kind of expected to have some new faces in this sport, but I still wouldn’t rule out Roger and Rafa and I would not take them out of that context of the best players in the world,” Djokovic said at the Shanghai Masters.•
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