The New Nation - Internet Edition

Sports Reporter

The third round matches of the Ispahani Mirzapur Tea 9th National Cricket League (NCL) begin today at the different venues across the country.

Dhaka Division will meet Barisal Division in a four-dayer match at the Mirpur Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium while Rajshahi Division will face Chittagong Division in a four-dayer match at the Bir Sreshtha Shaheed Ruhul Amin Stadium in Chittagong and Khulna Division will take on Sylhet Division in a four-dayer match at the Narayanganj Osmani Stadium.

Later, the same sides will face each other in one-dayer matches scheduled to be held on October 6.

Rajshahi Division are now at the top of the points table with 30 points from two matches while Khulna Division are breathing on Rajshahi's neck with 23 points from as many matches.

Dhaka Division are now at the third position with 21 points from two outings while Barisal Division are now at the fourth position with eighteen points from as many outings.

Chittagong Division and Sylhet Division are now at the bottom of the points table with seven and six points respectively.

UNB, Dhaka

Bangladesh Football Federation (BFF) has relieved national team coach Syed Nayeemuddin of his responsibility, as there are no international events for Bangladesh until next June.

Talking to the reporters on Thursday, BFF acting general secretary Manjoor Hossain Malu said they conveyed their decision on Wednesday night Nayeemuddin, who took charge as national coach on August 1.

"The SAFF Championship has shifted to June… there are no international events for Bangladesh during the long eight months. So, it's not possible for BFF to run the residential camp spending huge amount of money," he said explaining the reason of the BFF decision.

However, Nayeemuddin has promised to respond to the call of BFF, if his services are needed in future, Malu added.

Earlier, Nayeemuddin's name came into limelight after a controversial news that he gave banned drugs to the booters during the residential camp, discontent of the senior and juniors booters and finally, the retirement of defender Nazrul Islam from the national level following a dispute with him.

BFF was also in a dilemma whether Nayeemuddin should be relieved or not, but their decision became easier as the SAFF meet has been deferred.

Nayeemuddin, who is also the coach of Brothers Union Club, will shortly leave for India on a holiday.

UNB, Dhaka

Bangladesh have been placed in Group A with holders India and Zimbabwe in the first round of the 2nd ICC World Twenty20 Cricket Championship to be held in England in 2009.

The grouping of the 12-team 20-over-a-side World Cup have finalized in the ICC meeting held in Dubai on Oct 30-31.

The ICC fixed the grouping on the basis of position of the teams in the first-ever ICC World Twenty20 Championship held in South Africa this year.

Australia was placed in the strong group C along with Sri Lanka and West Indies.

The groups are (with 2007 finishing positions in brackets):

Group A: India (1), Bangladesh (8) and Zimbabwe (9)

Group B: Pakistan (2), England (7), Associate 1 (10),

Group C: Australia (3), Sri Lanka (6), West Indies (11)

Group D: New Zealand (4), South Africa (5), Associate 2 (12)

India won the title of the first ICC Twenty20 World Championship beating their arch rival Pakistan in the final.

UNB, Dhaka

Bangladesh suffered defeat to India by 36-12 points in their 3rd match of the Asian Indoor Games Kabaddi held in Macaw on Thursday.

In the day's other match, Bangladesh lost to Iran by 35-16 points.

Bangladesh will play the remaining two matches against Pakistan and Malaysia today (Friday).

Earlier, Bangladesh got off a good start beating Japan in the opening match.

UNB, Dhaka

Orient Cricket Academy notched a comfortable 77-run victory over Udiyaman Cricket Academy Dhanmondi in a qualifying round match of the Metropolis 3rd Division Cricket League at the Dhaka University ground on Thursday.

Winning the toss, Orient CA batted first to score moderate 191 for 9 in reduced 44 overs with Tareq contributing 58 runs. Later, they dismissed Udiyaman CA for 114 runs in 36.2 overs.

In the day's other matches, Evergreen Sports Complex (172/6 in 41.5 ov) defeated Golden Age Club (170/10 in 44.3ov) by four wickets at the Uttara Cricket ground, ACC Red (185/9 in 43.4ov) beat Baghpara Cricket Academy (184/10 in 45ov) by one wicket at the Gulshan Youth Club ground, Azampur Boys Club (122/4 in 18ov) outplayed Faruk Taslim Smriti Sangsad (119/10 in 23ov) by six wickets at the Dhanmondi Club ground while Mirpur Shaheed Buddhijibi Cricket Academy (172/10 in 44.3ov) beat Altaf Cricket Foundation Green (102/10 in 25.1ov) by 70 runs at the City Club ground.

UNB, Dhaka

Base Paharkanchanpur emerged champions in the Bangladesh Air Force Inter-Base Kabaddi tournament beating Base Bashar by 29-28 points in a keenly-contested final at the Base Kurmitola ground here on Thursday.

Warrant Officer Zakir of Pharkanchanpur team was adjudged the best player of the tournament.

Assistant Chief of the Bangladesh Air Force (Maintenance) Air Commodore Syed Zillani Mahbubur Rahman was the chief guest in the day's final and later distributed the trophies, said an ISPR press release.

Sports Reporter

The Third Japan Cup Karate Competition arranged by Bangladesh Karate Federation will be held today at the Gymnasium of National Sports Council. Japan Embassy will give all sorts of co-operation to the federation to run the karate meet smoothly.

After the day-long karate competition Ambassador of Japan to Bangladesh Masayaki Inoue will distribute the prizes among the winners as the chief guest while Director and CEO of Bangladesh Olympic Association Colonel (Retd) Md Wali Ullah and Residential Representative of JAICA of Bangladesh Nobuko Suzuki Kayashima will be present with him as special guests. President of Bangladesh Karate Federation and Secretary of the Home Ministry Md Abdul Karim will preside over the prize-giving ceremony.

Reuters, Karachi

Pakistan's top pacer Mohammad Asif is unlikely to travel with the national squad to India today due to a chronic elbow problem.

A Pakistan Cricket Board official said Asif had not made a complete recovery from the injury and was being pulled out of the squad for the five-match one-day series in India starting from Nov 5.

"Doctors say he needs more time to be 100 percent fit," the official, who declined to be named, told Reuters.

"The idea is he get more rest and be ready for the test series that follows later this month."

BSS, Dhaka

The Dhaka Area Tennis and Squash Competition-2007 of Bangladesh Navy ended at Naval Headquarters Tennis and Squash Complex on Wednesday.

BNS Haji Mohsin under the supervision of Admin Dhaka organised the four-day meet, an ISPR release said today .

Lt Cdr Monjur Hossain emerged champion in tennis singles beating Inst. Lt Cdr Shohel Rafiq by 6-0 and 6-2 sets.

In the doubles, Inst. Lt Cdr Shohel Rafiq and Lt Cdr Monjur Hossain became champion defeating Lt Cdr Mosayed and Sub Lt Mostafiz by 6-0 and 6-4 sets.

In veteran doubles, Rear Admiral Mustafiz and Captain Mahmood beat Captain Anwar and Commander Saidur by 6-5 set.

In the squash competition, Commander Jamil became champion beating Commander Goni by 3-2 set.

Begum Muneera Nizam, President of Bangladesh Navy Family Welfare Association, attended the concluding function as the chief guest and distributed prizes among the winners.

Chief of Naval Staff Vice Admiral Sarwar Jahan Nizam was present as special, the release said.

AP, New Delhi

Pakistan's cricket team arrived in India on Thursday amid tight security for a six-week tour comprising five limited-overs internationals and three tests.

Security staff escorted the Pakistan team out of New Delhi's international airport, blocking a crowd of fans from approaching the players.

The Pakistan team, minus paceman Mohammad Asif who dropped out of the tour due to an elbow injury just before the team embarked on the tour, will open the tour with a one-day practice match against a Delhi XI on Friday.

The Delhi team will be led by test opener Gautam Gambhir, but will miss star batsman Virender Sehwag, whose father died this week.

The Delhi XI will also be without injured pace pair of Ashish Nehra and Ishant Sharma. Nehra has pulled out of the match due to an ankle problem, while Sharma is recuperating from a shoulder injury.

Meanwhile, the Indian cricket board said it would ask its government to loosen a restriction that will see just 250 tickets per match sold to Pakistani fans.

Niranjan Shah, secretary of the Board of Control for Cricket in India, said Thursday that the allocation was too small and the board would ask for more tickets for traveling Pakistani fans.

"Our president will also meet with the (Indian) foreign minister," Shah said.

During the previous three tours - since resumption of cricket ties between the two countries after a long interlude - thousands of fans were allowed to travel to the neighboring nation and watch the fiercely contested cricket matches between longtime rivals.

AFP, Paris

Ivo Karlovic broke Roger Federer's serve for the first time in his life, but couldn't stop the Swiss juggernaut from rolling into the third round of the Paris Masters on Wednesday.

Croatian Karlovic, the tallest man in tennis at a tree-topping 2.08 metres, went down 6-4, 4-6, 6-3 as world number one Federer played for the first time at the Bercy event since 2003.

Federer had gone 67 service games over four previous matches without a loss before Karlovic ended his duck to claim their second set.

But the Swiss top seed got straight back in harness, breaking to start the final set and rolling ahead against a man he had just beaten days earlier in the Basle semi- finals.

The match was the first between the pair that did not feature a tiebreak, the others all containing at least two deciders each.

"It's not easy to break his serve," said Federer, who did it three times. "I had to take my chances. At the end it was the perfect ending for me.

"Breaking him to start and end the final set) was a good way to finish."

Federer, who won his seventh title of the season on Sunday, next plays Argentine threat David Nalbandian, who defeated him for the Madrid trophy last month.

Nalbandian put Spain's Carlos Moya out of the race for the season-ending Masters Cup earlier, 6-4, 6-4.

"Honestly, he is the guy you would expect to be playing in a final, not the second or third round. It will be another tough one and I have to be ready for a quick turnaround," said Nalbandian.

Rafael Nadal began his build-up for the season-ending Masters Cup by beating Filippo Volandri 6-3, 6-1.

Nadal, at home in the capital thanks to three straight Roland Garros crowns on clay, is trying his luck for the first time on the opposite side of town - indoors at the Bercy arena.

While still feeling the effects of the knee tendinitis which has plagued him since the summer, the Spanish world number two is concentrating on whipping his late-season game into shape.

"I didn't play my best tennis today, but I played a serious match," said Nadal, long qualified for the eight-man Masters Cup starting a week from Sunday in Shanghai.

"I didn't do anything special, I played a normal match and tried to get confidence. I want to get more feeling on the ball."

Nadal played only Madrid in the wake of his fourth-round US Open upset two months ago.

He is one of six men already into the elite Shanghai field, with the last two positions currently being decided this week at the final event of the ATP regular season.

Two open slots remain to complete the year-end lineup with 13 men still in with a chance. Qualifiers already include:

Federer, Nadal, Novak Djokovic, Nikolay Davydenko, Andy Roddick and David Ferrer.

German Tommy Haas is in provisional eighth place while number seven Fernando Gonzalez missed a chance to clinch a spot after losing in the second round on Tuesday to Mikhail Youzhny. Andy Murray is set amidst a group of rivals, including Spain's Tommy Robredo, Czech Tomas Berdych and American James Blake who are all jockeying for one of the last places.

Frenchman Fabrice Santoro scored the first upset of the week as he beat out of sorts third seed Djokovic 6-3, 6-2 as the Serb suffered from the effects of the recent removal of two wisdom teeth.

"This was my last tournament before Shanghai, but I couldn't give my hundred percent, not even 30 percent of my possibilities," said Djokovic. "He deserved to win. I'm still on medication."

Murray meanwhile turned around a tiebreak to keep his bid for China alive with a 7-6 (7/5), 6-3 victory over Jarkko Nieminen and next plays the wily and court-wise Santoro.

"It's a great position to be in, considering obviously what happened to me," said Murray, who missed more than three months of 2007 with a wrist injury and was involved in a minor car smash on Monday night.

"I'm just happy to have a chance of qualifying."

Davydenko, seeded fourth, played with an ongoing elbow injury and scraped out a defeat of Argentine Juan Del Potro 7-6 (7/3), 6-1.

Number ten Richard Gasquet joined compatriot Santoro in advancing as he beat compatriot Jo-Wilfred Tsonga 7-5, 7-6 (7/3).

Former Australian Open finalist Marcos Baghdatis ended the Shanghai hopes of Croatian Ivan Ljubicic 6-4, 7-6 (7/4).

Dr. Moin Uddin Ahmed

Every occupation has some health hazards. We call it occupational disease. These health hazards are particular to that type of occupation. For example, Silicosis caused by inhalation of silica/ silicon oxide is seen in the mine industry workers, and Byssinosis cause by inhalation of cotton fiber is found in textile industry.

The players are similarly prone to specific types of injuries. During watching a football game you may observe an ankle injury while tackling a ball from an opponent; but this type of injury may not be seen in the swimmers. So, like the occupational diseases there are also sports specific traumas.

Obviously the medical personnel are responsible to take care of these problems. He/she gives the first aid treatment in the spot i.e in the playground/ gymnasium / swimming pool. This is one of the duties of a doctor for the players.. In this regard doctors working in the playground should have sufficient knowledge to solve the medical emergencies. This injury may be in the head ( causing unconsciousness) , neck ( causing spine injury) , face( epistaxis, blow out fracture), chest , abdomen ( causing rupture of the liver/ spleen/kidney/ hollow viscous followed by shock), the extremities( e.g. ankle sprain, dislocation of shoulder). There may also be soft tissue injury like echymoses, hematoma, compartment syndrome( followed by amputation of limb)., muscle strain. In these situation the team physician will give the decision that whether the injured play will continue the game or not.

Besides this he/she has to assess the player prior to participate in playing nay games. This pre session medical assessment is very important for example, any cardiac problem or respiratory diseases like bronchial asthma may aggravate during / after playing. Sometimes these are life threatening. Any physical deformity should also be noted. The measurements of body such as height, weight, length of the limbs, , and the calculation of body fat density (based on skinfold thickness in 8 different parts of the body are also noted.

A sport physician should have proper knowledge about the mechanism of injuries and risk factor of injuries. He/she will train up the players accordingly such a way that the incidence of injuries decreases. During the training session by teaching the preventive measures (either by using protective equipments such as gloves, pads, helmet in cricket & hockey or special physical exercise) . He/she can guide and prepare the players to withstand the injuries.

The players are assessed for the physical capacities / performances through a series of tests. The objective are to evaluate the player for selection in the match and to design the training schedule for further improvement of his/her physical fitness.. It also provides the information about his/her weakness.. The injured player is examined whether he/she has returned to the baseline levels. The team physician together with the coach prepare and organize the fitness tests which is specific for particular sport. For example, a continuous run without changing the direction or speed is of minor relevance to a footballer, as he/she frequently shows high intensity and maximal speed run resulting in a change in activity in every six seconds.

The players do not only get injuries, but also may suffer any infectious disease like diarrhoea, RTI ( running nose, pharyngitis, tonsillitis) ,STI & AIDS, fever, allergy or skin disease.. These actually happen when there is a change of weather or food habit, sharing the clothing, beds, towels etc. during staying in the clubs/camps/ hotels in abroad. It is very important to prevent and control such diseases.

A wide variety of food consumed for physical performances. Due to ignorance of the purpose and necessity of food intake an imbalanced diet (e.g. high protein and low carbohydrate diet for the runner, swimmer, footballer etc) is often chosen by the players. A diet which does not contain sufficient carbohydrate ( rice, bread, potato) will not be able to replace the needs of the player during higher intensity activities.(running, jumping). The planning of energy intake is made on the basis of the demand during training and matches. Plenty of fluids must be consumed in order to delay dehydration and to prevent heat illness. With a balanced diet from a variety of sources including fruits and vegetables, the need for vitamins and minerals supplement is of no use. Some woman may benefit from an iron supplement if medically suggested. So , a team physician has a great role for recommendation of nutrition according to the need of the athletes. The interaction of 3 factors : nutrition, menstruation, and bony health (the female athlete triad) is considered in case of training in woman.

Respect to others ( opponents, teammates, referees, officials, spectators) is part of the game and one of the criteria of fair play. But sometimes it is overlooked. The players often tease & misbehaves the opponent. What we knew through papers , Matarezzii (Italy) told some slang to Zidane(France) in the final match of the World Cup football 2006. .This was certainly a violation of fair play and against the spirit of game , which they were committed for. Think about what a mean mind attitude in such a big international competitions ! besides this some player play foul intentionally, some can not control his anger ( like Zidane pushing Matarezzi by head) and emotion, some has lower level of concentration, and some become nervous. All these psychological behavior should be recognized and improved accordingly.

The age determination is an important issue for organizing various age group related competitions. Radiological investigations is not permitted for age determination except in medico-legal conditions. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) & WHO has banned to perform X-ray on a healthy person due to possibility of radiation. The body growth , development of axillary hairs, pubic hairs, beard an other secondary sexual characteristics , number of teeth can give a rough estimation of age. An MRI of the wrist joint ( the grading of fusion of the epiphyses & diaphyses of the distal end of radius) is used for age determination in the international competitions. But this is too expensive ( at least Tk 3500/ or $ 50 for every player) to detect the age randomly in the developing countries like Bangladesh.

In conclusion it is realized that a service of a team physician is one stop medical service for the players.

The doctors working in the different medical college hospitals, clinics, district & upazillas should be aware about the concept of sports medicine through seminar and symposiums. so that they become interested. The pharmaceutical companies can sponsor to organize such program.

The sport is not only a part of recreation. It helps to build up, restore and promote the health. It also helps to rehabilitate . So in essence it is also a part of health. Like army medical core (which is an integral part of the army) sports medicine is an essential parts of sports. So, we should think about the sports medicine when we think the health and sports of the nation.

The government of Bangladesh and the different related organizations like World Health Organization (WHO) and other international sports committees; federation and associations may help to set up an institute of sports medicine.