16th Asian Games
More bad than good
Bangladesh had a mixed day at the Asian Games in Guangzhou yesterday with some heartening results chipping in amid disappointing ones.
The most commendable performance of the day came in chess where the men’s team completed a clean 4-0 sweep of South Korea while the women’s lost 1.5-2.5 to leaders China.
In the men’s board, GM Ziaur Rahman, FM Minhazuddin Ahmed Sagor, FM Abu Sufian Shakil and FM Mehedi Hasan Parag won over their respective opponents. The men’s team is in the eighth position with four points from four rounds while China lead the table with 8 points.
In the women’s section, WFM Sharmin Sultana beat China’s WGM Zhao Xue while Shamima Akhter drew with another WGM Ju Wenjun. However, Nazrana Khan and Masuda Begum lost their respective boards. The women’s team now have four points from four rounds and are in the sixth position as China lead the table with 7 points.
Bangladesh women’s archery team gave North Korea a run for their money but ultimately conceded a 205-195 defeat in the pre-quarterfinals at the Aoti Archery Range. The final scores however do not fully reflect the performance as two out of the four rounds were won by the Bangladeshi trio of Mathui Prue, Beauty Roy and Najmin Khatun. However, the aggregate scores from Bangladesh over the four rounds weren’t good enough to challenge their more established opponents.
There was good news from track and field too, where the country’s fastest man Azharul Islam made it to the semifinals of the Games’ showcase event 100m sprint. Azharul timed 11.19 seconds in heat No. 6 to finish fourth from the six-man heat. The semifinals of the event will be held today. However, Azhar’s female compatriot Nazmun Nahar Beauty could not follow his footsteps as she finished 22nd among 26 participants to bow out from the heats. She finished her race with a timing of 12.72 seconds.
Erratic performance in the hockey field continued when Bangladesh lost their last group match against Pakistan by 6-1 goals.
Taposh Barmon scored a consolation goal seven minutes from time after conceding six goals against the former world champions.
Veterans Shakeel Abbasi and Sohail Abbas scored two goals apiece to give Pakistan a 4-0 first-half lead before Muhammad Imran converted two penalty corners in the second.
