BKSP end DEB dream

Dhaka Education Board (DEB) had their dream of regaining the National Youth Hockey Championship title after 34 years shattered yesterday at the hands of Bangladesh Krira Shikkha Protisthan as the country's lone sports education institute were crowned champions of the 26th edition.

BKSP made light work of DEB, who mostly consists of players from BKSP, handing their opponents a 5-0 defeat in the final at the Maulana Bhasani Hockey Stadium to secure their 13th trophy and second in a row.

Returning after a 10-year hiatus, DEB did well to hold off their superior counterparts – comprised of experienced players from Premier League champions Dhaka Mariner Youngs Club, third place finishers Abahani and Dhaka Wanderers Club – till the 20th minute after which their resistance seemingly collapsed for the rest of the duration, forcing DEB to content themselves with a second place finish.

The tournament's top-scorer Sohanur Rahman put BKSP's noses in front by converting a penalty during the 20th minute before Debashish Kumar doubled the margin by availing a fierce angular hit from Mohammad Mohsin. Mohsin then went on to score twice during the 29th and 37th minutes respectively while Sohanur put the game to bed in the 58th minute.

“Yes, it was an uneven battle between the two sides because all the players know each other. Generally we would like to form the squad with our best players and then allow others to play in other teams,” said BKSP manager Kawsar Ali after the match. 

However, Kawsar also believes he saw a few other good teams amongst the 35 in participation with Dhaka District, Dhaka Board and Dinajpur having the ability to reach the final.

Man-of-the-tournament Shafiul Alam Shishir of BKSP, who played for Mariner Youngs Club last season, said that there were some quality players in the Championship but regular practices and the experience of playing in the the Premier League kept BKSP ahead of their competition.

The Bangladesh Hockey Federation has arranged the youth championship for the last three years successively but the knockout format of the tournament raised questions about the game's governing body's sincerity to develop the sport from its roots.

“Sure, we also felt that the teams should be given more room to play more matches but we could not do it due to the financial constrains though we initially planned to hold the championship on league basis,” said BHF general secretary Abdus Sadeque adding that they will try to hold the youth championship on a league basis in the future.