BD fly off for practice

A 22-member Bangladesh national hockey team will leave for India today to play six practice matches as a part of their preparations for the upcoming Asian Games, to be held in Jakarta through August and September.

Under the guidance of Malaysian coach Iman Gobinathan Krishnamurthy, the team will have four games against the India A team followed by two more against the India Junior hockey team at the Netaji Subhas Southern Centre in Bangalore on June 29 and July 6 before returning home on July 8.

Initially Gobinathan picked 41 players for training, which got underway on June 8, prior to him trimming the squad to 24.

After returning, the national team will depart for their final stage of preparations in South Korea and China, where they will play almost 10 more practice matches, before flying off to Jakarta.