Sabira sets the tone

Winning the silver medal in women's wrestling event was the lone highlight for the Bangladeshi athletes on the opening day of the 12th South Asian Games in Guwahati, Assam yesterday.

The athletes of hosts India however had been the dominating force with 14 gold medals, with cyclist Bidyaluxmi Tourangbam winning the first gold in 30km individual time trial.

Sri Lanka and Pakistan followed leaders India while Bangladesh were in fourth position with one silver and eight bronze medals. However, Indian Olympic football team were stunned 1-0 by Sri Lanka in the opening game.

Veteran weightlifter Mollah Sabira brought the first medal for Bangladesh after finishing third in women's 48kg category behind gold-winner Mirabai of India and silver-winner Bomiriyoge Gomas of Sri Lanka at Bhogeshwari Phukanani Indoor Stadium in the morning. Sabira virtually set the tone for the rest of the day for Bangladesh, who won one silver from wrestling and eight bronze medals-- four from the pool while two each from wresting and weightlifting.

WRESTLING

Rina Akter had to be content with a silver medal in 60kg category after losing to Manish of India in the gold-deciding match after the girl from Khulna beat her Nepal and Sri Lankan counterparts to reach the final.

“I had a dream to win the gold medal but the Indian player was too strong. I am satisfied with the achievement because I came here with a realistic hope of winning the first silver medal in my maiden international appearance,” said Rina, who switched to wresting from Judo in 2006.

“As per the advice from the coach, I just tried to put up my natural performance that helped me beat the Sri Lankan and Nepalese counterparts to reach the final,” said Rina, who joined Bangladesh Army in 2014 after winning a gold medal in the 2013 Bangladesh Games.   

Rina's teammate Nadi Chakma and Soma Chowdhury beat their respective rivals in 48kg and 65kg categories to win bronze medals.

WEIGHTLIFTING

Sabira lifted a total of 143kg -- 63kg in snatch and 80kg in clean & jerk.

“I could have finished second had I lifted the weight that I did in national championship,” said Sabira, who failed to lift her third attempt of 66kg in snatch after lifting 63kg in her second attempt.

Indian Mirabai went far from other competitors after lifting 79kg in snatch and then lifted 90kg in her first attempt to ensure the gold medal.

Mostain Billah won the second bronze from weightlifting by lifting 225kg in 62kg category while Mizanur Rahman and Jahura Akter finished fourth and fifth in their respective 56kg and 53kg categories.

SWIMMING

Mahfuzur Rahman became first in his heat of 200m freestyle but he had to be content with a bronze medal after timing 1:56.19 seconds while Sri Lankan Mathew Abeysinghe and Indian Saurabh Sangvekar grabbed gold and silver medals timing 1:52.28 and 1:53.05 seconds respectively.

There had been hope on Kamal Hossain in the 200m breaststroke but the 34-year-old swimmer frustrated all to finish fourth while Shariful Islam won the bronze in the same event with a time of 2:26.99 seconds. In women's group, Romana Akter won a bronze medal in 200m breaststroke clocking 2:49.60 seconds.

OTHER DISCIPLINES

Bangladesh men's kho-kho team beat Sri Lanka 19-6; men's badminton team beat Afghanistan in 3-0 sets in team event while table tennis team lost to India in straight 3-0 sets. Cyclists Subarna Barma and Chingby Marma became fifth and ninth out of 10 competitors in 30km individual time trial while Repon Kumar and Manwar Hossain finished seventh and eighth among 10 cyclists in the 40km individual time trial.