Jewel, Samedul go in action today

Bangladesh swimmers Jewel Ahmed and Karar Samedul Islam dive in the swimming pool in Jeddah today with the hope to fly the green and red flag in the First Islamic Solidarity Games, according to a press release.

Jewel will be participating in the 50m butterfly and Samedul will be in the starting block of the 50m breaststroke.

The Games were officially inaugurated yesterday at the holy city of Mecca.

Jewel's best timing is 26.11s which brought him the bronze medal in the last SAF Games while Samedul clocked 31.60s as his best timing so far.

The heats will take place at 12 noon (Bangladesh time) and the final will be held at 10pm (BST).

The Bangladesh mentally retarded football team will also open their campaign today and look favourites as eight of the 16 entered countries did not send their team.

The only athlete of the squad, hurdler Mahfuzur Rahman, is in Mecca and the weightlifting team is in Medina.