Anisur Rahman

Former Bangladesh international Alfaz Ahmed believes the Qatar World Cup is going to be full of excitement, especially considering that the world’s two most popular footballers, Lionel Messi and Cristiano Rolando, will be making their last appearance in the greatest show on earth.

State-run bank Agrani Bank Ltd decided to discard 50 years of its footballing heritage, saying in a letter that its club, Agrani Bank Ltd SC, would not be involved in any tournaments organised by the Bangladesh Football Federation due to cost-cutting measures.

Signing for a club after taking advanced payment from another club has apparently become a common phenomenon for the country's top footballers during the Bangladesh Premier League transfer window, and the latest one that began on October 8 ahead of the 2022-23 season proved to be no exception.

The incident of a Bangladesh Table Tennis team handing a walkover to their opponents happened not so long ago -- in 2014 during the World Team Table Tennis Championships in Japan. In that event, Rahima Khatun, Akhi Akter and Sharmin of the women’s team were fortunate not to face any punishment from the Bangladesh Table Tennis Federation (BTTF).

Nobody could tell yesterday how $1,300 and other belongings of two of the heroes of Bangladesh’s SAFF Women’s Championship-winning team were stolen, staining the jubilations.

“After a lot of hard work, we enjoyed last night to the fullest. We shed tears of joy and we danced on the bus all the way to the hotel,”

"We had a dream of winning the SAFF Women's Championship but we could not do it. The dream finally came true through this group of brilliant girls," was the instant reaction from former national striker Suinu Pru Marma, who represented Bangladesh in the first three editions of the regional women's football extravaganza.

Although volleyball was once widely practiced around the country, the sport began to lose its popularity in recent times until the men's senior national side recently started attracting attention after finishing as champions and runners-up on a few occasions in the Asian Senior Men's Central Zone International Volleyball Championship. The youth volleyball team followed in those footsteps, surprisingly finishing fifth in the just-concluded 21st Asian Men's Under-20 Volleyball Championship in Bahrain. Captain Tanvir Hossain Tonmoy was one of architects behind that success and the 6ft 2in 19-year-old spoke to The Daily Star's Anisur Rahman about their thrilling journey in the 17-nation tourney among other topics. The excerpts are below:

Bangladesh have just concluded another campaign in the Commonwealth Games but the athletes hardly drew any attention from the country’s sports fraternity after again failing to perform on a big platform.

FIDE Master Tahsin Tajwar Zia was reluctant to learn the intricacies of chess from his father, Grandmaster Ziaur Rahman, but his interest bloomed as he found himself confined at home during the Covid-19 pandemic and now Tajwar is far more serious about the game and spends a lot of time learning from his prominent father.

Having strengthened their foothold in the domestic circuit by winning a third consecutive Bangladesh Premier League title, Bashundhara Kings are setting their sights on becoming the best club in South Asia.

Though promoted football clubs usually struggle to survive in country’s top-tier football league, Bashundhara Kings have bucked the trend and have made a piece of history too with a third consecutive Bangladesh Premier League title.

Bashundhara Kings coach Oscar Bruzon termed the triumph of the hattrick title of Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) as the ‘toughest and sweetest’ one compared to their previous two league titles.

Due to the domestic and international engagements at the clubs or national team level, top footballers hardly get the scope to enjoy the religious festivals and vacations with family members, relatives and friends. And for some booters who get to be on leave but have to head to the other side of Padma river from Dhaka, most of their time would be spent crossing the river via ferry.

After working with the country’s budding gymnasts for over two months, Korean coach Cho Sung Dong realised that Bangladeshi gymnasts and the coaches not only lack basic techniques but also trail in their thought processes toward the game.

Since the emergence of Enamul Hossain Razib as the country’s fifth and last Grandmaster in 2008, no Bangladeshi chess player has won a single GM norm.

When it comes to the country’s gymnastics, Bangladeshi descent Margarita Mamun has perhaps been the lone consolation amid Bangladesh’s never-ending failure in the Olympic Games and, at the same time, she has likely been the sole source of inspiration for the country’s gymnasts.

Robson Robinho was one of the major architects behind Bashundhara Kings’ domestic double in his debut season in Bangladesh football, scoring 24 goals.

The Daily Star (DS): What was your first impression of Bangladesh?

Before the departure of the national football team for Jakarta on Friday for their FIFA friendly against Indonesia and the ensuing Asian Cup Qualifiers in Malaysia, the national team’s head coach Javier Cabrera remained optimistic about their chances despite the absence of experienced forwards in his squad.