Did you know? Of the 32 teams to have qualified for the 2014 World Cup, only Russia has not had a player in the English Premier League this season
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Saturday, December 7, 2013
DHAKA TRIBUNE
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Jamal blast past Abahani to reach final n Raihan Mahmood
Sony Norde (R) and Wedson, the Haitian attacking duo of Sheikh Jamal, celebrate a strike against Abahani at the Bangabandhu National Stadium yesterday
Afusi delighted, Amalesh distraught n Raihan Mahmood Sheikh Jamal’s Nigerian coach Josef Afusi credited scoring goals at the right times to his side’s victory, while Abahani coach Amalesh Sen admitted that that was the case at the post-match presser at the Bangabandhu National Stadium yesterday. It was agony for Amalesh, who has been with Abahani throughout the Federation Cup, that Jamal beat Abahani twice in the quarter-finals and in the semis yesterday. Meanwhile, Afusi was visibly happy while remaining philosophic about the three goals. “The first one gave the confidence, the second one made the team balanced and the third one stamped the control. We are the runaway winners with the perfect teamwork and hard work. “Our plans worked, we dominated the game, we played across the field and my team played the football that matches the winners. I am happy to win against Abahani, my attacking trio was perfect,” said Afusi. His star forward Sony Norde said
lack of concentration in taking a late penalty caused him to miss the shot, “May be there was a lack of concentration. We were leading 3-0 at that time. If the score was goalless, then probably the concentration would have been different and it would have been a goal.” Skipper Mamunul Islam said he had not expected such an easy win. “We were expecting a fighting Abahani but we scored the goals early and Abahani crumbled in the pressure,” said the midfielder. Amalaesh Sen said his team lost their fighting spirit after conceding three goals. “If we could have scored at least one goal to make the score line 2-1, than I believe it would have been a different story. However, we failed to rise on the occasion and the players at one stage lost the fighting spirit. We were outplayed in all departments,” said Amalesh. Queried about his foreign players Amalesh said the team management chooses the players and his job is to guide them. Nonetheless, the coach went on to admit that his foreign players had fell short of what was expected of them. l
Badminton finals set up n Shishir Hoque
Malaysian shuttler Yogendran Khrishnan and Hsu Jen Hao of Chinese Taipei reached the final of the men’s single event of the Yonex-Sunrise Bangladesh Open International Badminton Challenge after winning their respective semi-final matches yesterday. Indian Saili Rane and Pai Hsiao Ma of Chinese Taipei swept into the final of women’s single event. The final of both men and women’s event will take place today. Yogendran beat Indian shuttler Subhankar Dey 21-18, 21-9 points in the first semi-final while Hsu Jen Hao got the final ticket after outplaying Indonesian opponent Dharma Guna 21-12, 21-11. Saili earned a hard-fought 21-16,1721,21-12 victory over Sannatasah of Malaysia and Hsiao beat Trupti of India by 21-8,21-10 to ensure the final. In the men’s doubles event, Hung Ying and Cheng Heng Su of Chinese Taipei moved into the final after a 21-13, 17-21, 21-15 victory over Malaysian pair Jagdish and Wee Long. The two Indian pairs will face each other in the final today in the women’s doubles event as Dhanya Nair and Mohita Sahdev beat their compatriots Sanskriti Chhabra and Kristi Das pair while Prajakta and Arathi beat Sri Lankan pair Kapuru and Weerasinghe. l
MUMIT M
Power, control and discipline made all the difference as Sheikh Jamal Dhanmondi cruised into the final of the Walton Federation Cup with a 3-0 victory over Abahani Ltd at the Bangabandhu National Stadium yesterday. The trio of Sony Norde, Darlington and Wedson was too much for Abahani, who conceded three goals within 38 minutes, leaving the traditional giants with little chance to stage a comeback. The three early goals took the steam out of the Abahani players and they seemed to give up. Jamal’s attacking instincts, endurance and control of the ball was superior and they dominated throughout the match. Sony Norde led from the front, scoring a brace to take his goal tally to a tournament high of seven and he was ably supported by an excellent all-round team effort. Wins over traditional crowd pullers Mohammedan 3-1 and Abahani 3-0 in the same tournament will surely inspire Jamal upcoming challenges. Jamal went up after just five minutes when Nigerian attacker Darlington paved the way with a low chip for his on-
Muktis lock horns with BJMC today n Shishir Hoque Muktijoddha Sangsad Krira Chakra will be looking to reach a professional tournament’s final after eight years when they take on Team BJMC in the second semi-final of the Walton Federation Cup at the Bangabandhu National Stadium today at 5pm. Today’s winners will play Sheikh Jamal Dhanmondi Club in the final. Muktijoddha coach Shafiqul Islam Manik was determined to win the game and stressed the symbolic value of doing so in December – the month in which the nation was born. “We will try not to repeat the mistakes we did in our previous games. There is no alternative than to win the game and play in the final. It would be great if we play the final and win the trophy in this month of victory,” said Manik at the pre-match press conference. Muktijoddha defeated Brothers Union convincingly in the quarter-final and Manik will be relying on his foreign and experienced local players to take the side further.
“Our experienced players like Enamul and Aminul played well and they will be better. I am getting expected service from both the foreign and local players and if they can carry the momentum into the semi-final, we can expect another good result,” said the Muktijoddha coach. Meanwhile, BJMC performed exceptionally in the quarter-final to beat lastseason’s treble winners Sheikh Russell KC. They came from behind twice to beat the defending champions and the team’s skipper Amin Khan Shuvra thinks the effort has raised his team’s confidence. “I said before that our target is the championship and now we’ve made the semi-final. We fell behind twice against Russell and played positive football to beat them in the quarter-final which I believe gave us more confidence and mental strength,” he said. BJMC coach Ali Asgar Nasir also pledged to play positive football against Muktijoddha today. “We will play positive football, despite all the limitations in my side. The foreign recruits are adjusting well, which will make us stronger than before,” he pledged. The game will be telecast live on BTV at 5pm. l
100-day countdown for World T20 begins n Mazhar Uddin The 100-day countdown to the ICC World Twenty20 Bangladesh 2014 started yesterday at the South Plaza of the Parliament Bhaban at Sher-e-Bangla Nagar, as president of the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) Nazmul Hasan officially inaugurated the maneuver, while allrounder Shakib al Hasan, Mahmudullah and the captain of the Bangladesh Women’s team Salma Khatun present. ICC Event Director Chris Tetley spoke after BCB boss Nazmul Hassan officially the countdown for the mega event which Bangladesh will host next year. A local band performed at the ceremony and later, a display of laser lights took place. In Chittagong, the ceremony was
held at the outer field of the MA Aziz Stadium. BCB cricket operations committee chairman Akram Khan, BCB Director AZM Nasir Uddin and Chittagong City Mayor Mohammad Monjurul Alam were present on the occasion. The countdown in Sylhet took place on the bank of the Surma River. National cricketers Alok Kapali, Rajin Saleh and Sylhet City Mayor Ariful Haque Chowdhury were present to inaugurate the Sylhet chapter. Twelve distinct clocks across the country will be following the countdown to the international event. Three of them are in Chittagong, two in Sylhet while the remaining seven will be set up in Dhaka. The timepieces will be set up at Gulshan circle 1 and 2, Mirpur 10 intersection, Bijoy Nagar intersection and Airport in Dhaka. Grey Event is the event management company that is handling the countdown programme. l
Bangladesh national pacer Rubel Hossain and spinner Elias Sunny display the ICC T20 World Cup trophy, bought by Hyundai yesterday COURTESY
rushing attacking partner Wedson at the top of the box, and the Haitian forward chipped the ball into the far post net. Sony Norde, the Haitian forward of Sheikh Jamal, marked his presence in the 21st minute when he ran to intercept a back pass from Abahani skipper Atikur Rahman Mishu and kept his cool to go past Abahani goalie Sohel before tapping in the finish from close range. The fate of the match was sealed in the 38th minute when Sony Norde played a one-two with Wedson and broke through the Abahani defence and scored his second goal with an angular shot from the middle of the box. Abahani tried to stage a comeback after the break and in the 51st minute, Brazilian Louis de Souza’s shot went straight to Jamal goalie Zia. In the 63rd minute, Abahani’s Ghanaian forward Osie Morrison came close to a strike as he toe-poked the ball over his marker to head the ball towards the goal but goalkeeper Zia flew backwards to grip the ball. Jamal failed to score off two easy chances in the dying minutes with Wedson and Shakhawat Rony being the guilty parties. In the 90th minute Abahani defender Samad Youssef fouled Sony Norde inside the box but in the resulting penalty, Sony shot the ball wide, thus missing his hat-trick. l
Bangladesh Under-19 win first game n Mazhar Uddin Saeed Sarkar’s brilliant 83 and Mosaddek Hossain’s all round performance helped Bangladesh U-19 to win the first match of the seven match ODI series against the visiting West Indies U-19 side by 104 runs at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium in Chittagong yesterday. After winning the toss, Bangladesh youths were in all sorts of trouble after losing six wickets for 84 runs in 31 over, but a 119 run partnership between Mosaddek Hossain and Saeed Sarkar took the host across the 200 mark. Saeed smashed a 66-ball 83 with eight fours and four sixes before he
BRIEF SCORES Bangladesh U-19 222/9 in 50 over Saeed Sarkar 83, Mosaddek Hossain 77 Ramaal Lewis 24/3, Gudakesh Motie 24/2 West Indies U-19 118/10 in 44.5 over Tristan Coleman 42 Jubair Hossain 30/3, Mosaddek Hossain 16/2, Mehedi Hasan 16/2 Bangladesh won by 104 runs
was dismissed by Jerome Jones, while Mosaddek continued to stroke the ball frequently and kept the run rate on the higher side before he was dismissed in the last over after smashing seven fours and two sixes in scoring 77 runs off 107 balls as Bangladesh reached 222/9 in 50 over. West Indies captain Ramaal Lewis was the most successful bowler taking 3 for 24, while Gudakesh Motie and Allen picked up two wickets apiece. Chasing the target of 223, West Indies were struggling at 41 for 6, with pacer Mehedi Hassan, off spinner Mosaddek and left-arm spinner Nihaduzzaman taking early wickets. Tristan Coleman tried to rescue the visitors but fell after scoring 42 runs, while the second highest score was 16 by Jerome Jones. West Indies innings were bowled out for 118 in 44.5 overs. Leg spinner Jubair Hossain took three wickets, while man-of-the-match Mosaddek Hossain, Nihaduzzaman and Mehedi Hasan bagged two wickets each for Bangladesh. The second match between the two sides will take place on December 8 at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium in Chittagong. l