Bangladesh second best to India

Bangladesh's U-21 men's and U-19 women's national teams settled for the runners-up position in their respective categories of the IHF Trophy Handball Tournament as they both suffered massive defeats at the hands of their Indian counterparts, yesterday at the Shaheed (Capt) M Mansur Ali National Handball Stadium. 

The men's team were drubbed 46-25 after trailing 10-20 during the first half and the women followed suit, conceding a 48-29 defeat.

The men's defeat to India was expected and could even be termed inevitable as they had already lost 45-31 in a group-stage fixture.

On the other hand, there was hope for the women's team who have claimed the IHF trophy title before during 2014 in Pakistan when India did not participate.

The girls in red and green trailed 7-26 during the first half but managed to show their might as they fought back during the second, scoring 22 goals.

However, that was not enough to surmount the Indians, who finished on a high note with a total of 48 goals.

“After the match, we realised that India were far ahead of Bangladesh as they are consistent performers who enjoy better facilities than we do. India have an academy from which loads of players join the national team but here we even can't practice regularly and you saw the difference between the sides on the field,” said Bangladesh head coach Kamrul Islam Kiron.

Meanwhile, Pakistan finished third in both sections as their men's team beat Nepal 42-14, while the women's team beat Sri Lanka 34-16 in place-deciding matches.