Handball team leave for Korea tomorrow
Bangladesh are all set to take part in top-level Asian handball for the first time as an 18-member squad will leave for South Korea tomorrow night to participate in the 18th Asian Men's Handball Championship, beginning in Suwon on January 18.
A total of 14 nations, split into four groups, will play in round-robin format and the top two teams from each group will advance to the second round of the championship, which will also serve as the Asian qualifiers for the 2019 Men's Handball World Cup.
Bangladesh, who along with Australia and New Zealand were given direct entry for the first time, have been placed in Group C alongside South Korea, the United Arab Emirates and India.
“We are looking forward to earning some valuable experience from the championship because we are playing at this level for the first time. Besides, the opponents in the group are very strong as we have never beaten our neighbouring India while there are strong teams like South Korea and the UAE,” national coach Quamrul Islam said at a press conference at the Shaheed Captain Mansur Ali Handball Stadium yesterday.
The Bangladesh team usually participate in South Asian tournaments and have never played beyond this region. They finished runners-up in the last edition of the South Asian Games, losing to eventual champions India. Bangladesh also hosted the IHF U-21 Trophy last year where they became runners-up after losing to India as well.
The handball team is going to take part in the championship on the back of only eight days training as the Bangladesh Handball Federation (BHF) could not afford to run a training camp.
“We could not arrange the camp due to financial constraints, but the players were in action as they recently played two tournaments -- the Victory Day Competition and the National Handball Championship, and that's the preparation for the team,” said BHF general secretary Asaduzzaman Kohinoor, adding that the state minister for youth and sports has promised to provide Tk 5 lakh, but the federation is yet to receive it from the ministry.
BHF president Nurul Fazal Bulbul said that they have arranged some Tk 20 lakh out of an estimated budget of Tk 35 lakh for the tour.