The second South Asian Basketball Championship will begin at the Dhanmondi Gymnasium on Thursday with participation of five South Asian nations including Bangladesh.
The competition which will feature Nepal, Bhutan, Maldives and Pakistan apart from the hosts will be played in a league basis and the holders of the highest points
will be declared the champions after one round of play.
A 22-member Bangladesh team have been preparing for one and half months for the competition, where they are one of the top favorites along with Pakistan.
‘I consider Pakistan to be our strongest competitor as they are the silver medalist of the last South Asian Games. We, otherwise, always win against the three other
teams of the competition,’ said Bangladesh team coach-cum-manger Mahtabur Rahman Bulbul who also guided Bangladesh to a bronze in the previous SA Games.
The recent performance of the Bangladesh team under the guidance of Bulbul is satisfactory as they won the title of an invitational international tournament named
Sheikh Kamal Basketball Championship last year.
‘Our team is good this time with a combination of young and experienced players from various backgrounds like services teams and civilians. We will play for the
title,’ said Bulbul.
Sheikh Saud Bin Ali Al-Thani, the president of the Federation of International Basketball Associations’ Asia zone, will inaugurate the competition.
-With New Age input
