The New Nation - Internet Edition

Bangladesh claim five gold

Sports Reporter

Bangladesh Shooting team dominated over the West Bengal team of India on the first day of the Second Indo-Bangladesh Bangla Gamesat the BKSP Shooting Complex.

Shooters of Bangladesh clinched four gold medals in the individual events while their opponents of West Bengal also grabbed four golds in the individual events.

On the other hand, Bangladeshi shooters gained three gold medals in the team's event while shooters of West Bengal got only one gold in the team's event.

In the men's 50 metre individual rifle prone Pankaj Poddar of West Bengal clinched gold and his teammate Partha Ghosh bagged silver while Anwar Hossain of Bangladesh got bronze.

In the team's same event, West Bengal grabbed gold scoring 1734 points while Bangladesh earned silver scoring 1668 points.

In the women's 50 metre individual rifle prone Sabrina Sultana of Bangladesh claimed gold while Amrita Das of West Bengal bagged silver and Tripti Dutta of Bangladesh got bronze. In he team's same event, shooters of Bangladesh clinched gold while West Bengal team got silver.

In the men's 10 metre individual air pistol event Mahendra Kumar Sing of Bangladesh gained gold and his compatriot Alamgir Hossain bagged silver while Shandeep Mukharjee of West Bengal got bronze. In the team's same event, Bangladesh captured gold while West Bengal earned silver.

In the women's 10 metre individual air pistol event Chaya Ghosh of West Bengal clinched gold while Armin Asha of Bangladesh bagged silver and her compatriot Sanjida Akhter got bronze. In the team's same event, Bangladesh won gold while West Bengal team got silver.

After the competitions Director General of BKSP Brigadier General Md Shawkat Hossain, psc distributed the prizes among the winners.

Jewel Ahmed clinches gold

Sports Reporter

Md. Jewel Ahmed of Bangladesh clinched the gold medal in the men's 100 metre free style of the swimming competition of the Second Indo-Bangladesh Bangla Games at the Mirpur National Swimming Complex on Saturday. He set new record taking 56.25 seconds.

Md. Nazrul Islam of Bangladesh bagged silver while Akbar Ali Mir of West Bengal team of India got bronze in the same event.

In the women's 100 metre free style, Monalisa Mondol of West Bengal team captured gold making new record, taking one minute and 5.14 seconds at the same venue.

Doly Akhter of Bangladesh achieved silver while Priyanka Karmaker of West Bengal earned bronze in the same event.

In the men's 50 metre back stroke, Md. Rubel Rana of Bangladesh grabbed gold making new record. He took 28.44 seconds to earn the first place. His compatriot Md. Rabiul Alam bagged silver while Akbar Ali Mir of West Bengal team got bronze in the same event.

In the women's 50 metre back stroke, Monalisa Mondal of West Bengal captured gold medal. She made new record taking 34.61 seconds.

Tahrina Nasrin of West Bengal collected silver while her compatriot Shalini Banarjee earned bronze in the same event.

In the men's 100 metre breast stroke, Md. Kamal Hossain of Banaldesh claimed gold, his compatriots Md. Jahangir Alam bagged silver and Karar Samedul Islam earned bronze.

In the women's 100 metre breast stroke, Doly Akhter of Bangladesh clinched gold while her compatriot Mahfuza Khatun collected silver and Monalisa Mondol of West Bengal got bronze. Doly Akhter set new record taking one minute and 19.88 seconds.

In the men's 200 metre butterfly, Md Niamul Haque of Bangladesh grabbed gold medal and his compatriot Md Sujon Ali of Bangladesh bagged silver and Sourav Maitee of West Bengal got bronze.

In the women's 200 metre butterfly, Puja Roy Chowdhury of West Bengal clinched gold and her compatriot Priyanka Karmaker bagged silver while Sonia Akhter of Bangladesh got bronze.

In the men's 400 metre individual medley Md. Rubel Rana of Bangladesh clinched the gold medal. He set new record taking five minutes 1.84 seconds. Sorojit Naskar of West Bengal bagged silver while Oukik Das of West Bengal got bronze in the same event.

In the men's 4x100 metre free style relay, Bangladesh team clinched gold while West Bengal team got silver. Bangladesh team consists of Md. Jewel Ahmed, Md. Rafiqul Islam, Md. Kamal Hossain and Md Nazrul Islam.

In the women's 4x100 metre free style relay West Bengal team gained gold while Bangladesh team got silver.

New Zealand complete series win over England

Reuters, Wellington

New Zealand beat England in their fifth and final one-day international at Christchurch on Saturday to win their series 3-1.

The Kiwis were awarded victory by 34 runs under the Duckworth-Lewis method when the match ended early because of heavy rain.

England had made 242 for seven from their 50 overs and New Zealand were cruising along at 213 for six after 37 overs when play was abandoned. New Zealand were adjudged comfortable winners because they were well ahead of England's adjusted rate of 179.

New Zealand's wicketkeeper batsmen Brendon McCullum was named player of the match after smashing 77 off only 43 balls.

McCullum set the Kiwis on course for victory when he raced to his half- century off only 27 deliveries and belted five fours and six sixes before he was eventually bowled by Paul Collingwood.

Ross Taylor finished with an unbeaten 41 while Jesse Ryder (24), Jamie How (24) and Scott Styris (25) all kept the scoreboard ticking along.

Ryan Sidebottom captured three late wickets, including two in successive balls, to give England some hope of pulling off an unlikely win before the rain intervened.

New Zealand seamer Kyle Mills dismissed Phil Mustard (two), Ian Bell (24), Owais Shah (29) and England's topscorer Luke Wright (47) to finish with figures of 4-36 and restrict England to a modest total.

The tourists, who needed to win the match to square the series after salvaging a dramatic tie in the fourth match in Napier, looked like they may have to settle for a smaller score before some late lusty hitting from the tailenders.

Dimitri Mascarenhas and Stuart Broad smashed 22 runs off the last over delivered by part-timer Ryder, with Mascarenhas making an unbeaten 29 off 12 balls and Broad 11 not out off eight.

Opener Alastair Cook got the innings off to a solid start with a watchful 42 while Kevin Pietersen made 39 but none of the English batsmen were able to post a big score as New Zealand's bowlers picked up wickets at regular intervals.

The teams are due to meet in three tests next month.

Bangladesh lead medal table

UNB, Dhaka

Hosts Bangladesh established their overall supremacy on the first day of the four-day 2nd Indo-Bangladesh Bangla Games by securing 17 gold, 13 silver and 8 bronze medals at different venues in the city and adjoining areas on Saturday.

Visiting West Bengal athletes followed Bangladesh collecting 10 gold, 14 silver and 11 bronze medals.

Bangladesh are leading in all the three medal-deciding events -athletics, swimming and shooting-of the games that got off to a festive start Friday.

Hosts Bangladesh bagged five gold, four silver and three bronze medals in athletics while they collected seven gold, six silver and two bronzes in swimming and secured five gold, three silver and three bronze medals in swimming.

The West Bengal team of India collected three gold, four silver and three bronze medals in athletics, they bagged four gold, five silver and seven bronze in swimming while collected three gold, five silver and one bronze medals in shooting.

Li, Sharapova storm into Qatar Open semi-finals

AFP, Doha

China's Li Na, who hopes to challenge for a medal at the Beijing Olympics, and Maria Sharapova, who'll be one of the favourites in the Chinese capital, both stormed into the Qatar Open semi-finals on Friday.

Li got the better of her third top 20 victim in a row when she enjoyed a 6-3, 6-4 success against Jelena Jankovic, the world number four from Serbia to add to her wins over Anna Chakvetadze, the fifth-seeded Russian, and Shahar Peer, the 12th seeded Israeli.

The victories have carried Li to the semi-finals of this 2.5 million dollar event, the first time she has reached this stage in a tier one tournament. They also continued her great start to 2008 after taking six months off.

Asked why she was playing so well now, Li said: "Maybe because my husband just gave me a credit card - no I'm joking."

Li will now face experienced Russian Vera Zvonereva while Sharapova, who brushed aside Denmark's Caroline Wozniacki 6-0, 6-1, will tackle Agnieszka Radwanska, the Polish girl who knocked her out of the 2007 US Open.

Li's success hinged on making the first aggressive hit in the rally and striking the ball more powerfully than Jankovic, forcing her highly rated opponent to contain and defend more often.

However, in the second set it seemed that Jankovic might level things up.

Three times she had Li at 15-30 on her serve, but each time the world number 29 from Wuhan responded with some of her best tennis.

In fact her husband-coach Jiang Shan told her not to worry about how her opponent would play.

"I told him that it was so windy I can't play properly," Li admitted.

"He said: 'Just think you like windy and that will help a lot'. It did."

Li created history when she became the first Chinese singles player to reach a Grand Slam quarter-final at Wimbledon two years ago and the first to reach the world's top 20.

Jankovic gave credit to her opponent.

Bangladesh-India female soccer teams play goalless draw

UNB, Narsingdi

Bangladesh and Indian female soccer teams played a goalless draw at Bir Shreshtha Matiur Rahman Stadium here Saturday in the second Indo-Bangladesh Bangla Games 2008.

Both the teams failed to score any goal during the 90-minute match that started at 3pm.

President of Bangladesh Olympic Association Lt. Colonel (retd) Nazrul Islam inaugurated the match.

Deputy Commissioner and President of local Sports Association Zillar Rahman distributed awards among the players after the match at the jam-packed stadium.

Another soccer match between Bangladesh and Indian male teams will be held at local stadium today(Sunday).

Bangladesh men's team beat West Bengal by 2-1 goals

UNB, Dhaka

Bangladesh Under-19 football team beat West Bengal team of India by 2-1 goals in the first match of the three-match Indo-Bangladesh Bangla Games Men's football competition at the Bangabandhu National Stadium here on Saturday.

Zahed Parvex Chowdhury and Mithun Chowdhury scored for Bangladesh, one in each half while Sheikh Jewel Raja netted the lone for West Bengal in the second half.

The women's football match between Bangladesh and West Bengal team ended in a goalless draw at the Narsingdhi on Saturday.

The men's football match between Bangladesh and West Bengal will be held at the Narsingdhi Stadium while women's football match between the two teams at the Narayanganj Stadium today (Sunday).

Bangladesh Volleyball team beats West Bengal Volleyball team 3-0

UNB, Dhaka

Bangladesh Volleyball team beat West Bengal Volleyball team 3-0 in the opening match of the 2nd Indo-Bangladesh Bangla Games at the Volleyball Stadium here on Saturday.

Kabaddi

Bangladesh Kabaddi team made a good start in the 2nd Indo-Bangladesh Bangla Games Kabaddi beating West Bengal Kabaddi team 31-12 with one creditable 'lona'.

Th winners led the first half 16-12.

Bangladesh beat West Bengal by 15 runs in Twenty20 cricket

UNB, Dhaka

Combined Divisional Under-22 team of Bangladesh made a good start in the three-match Indo-Bangladesh Bangla Games Twenty20 Cricket beating Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) Under-22 team by 15 runs in the first match at the Shaheed Chandu Stadium in Bogra on Saturday.

Sent in to bat first, Bangladesh team scored 123 runs for 6 in the stipulated 20 overs with middle order Nayeem Islam contributing team highest 30 runs off 35 balls, including a boundary.

Lower order batsman and wicket keeper Dhiman Ghosh quickfired 24 runs off 12 balls with two fours and a six.

Opener Nazmus Sadat hammered 18 runs off 11 balls with four fours, Mahmudullah Riyad made 13 off 24 balls while Nazmul Hossain scored 11 runs in 16 balls with a six.

Sourav Dutta and Mohammad Asrafuddin bagged two wickets each for 13 and 27 runs respectively.

In reply, CAB Under-22 team were all out for 108 runs for 8 in 20 overs with skipper Soham Ghosh contributing not out 28 off 24 deliveries, including one four and a six and one down Amith Biswas making 25 off 24 balls hitting two boundaries.

Nayeem Islam of Bangladesh, who hit the match highest 30 runs, also grabbed two wickets for 21 runs to be adjudged man of the match.

Pacer Delwar Hossain also picked up two wickets for 21 runs.

250 runs total will be a challenging score: Rajib

UNB, Dhaka

Pacer Shahadat Hossain Rajib said that a total of 250 runs would be a challenging score in this pitch.

"If our batters exercise utmost patience and bat well in the first session today (Sunday) and ends with 250 runs it will be a big challenge for the visitors." said Rajib while talking to the reporters at the post-match briefing on Saturday.

Team coach Jamie Siddons expressed his satisfaction over his boys performance saying, "Bowlers again brought back us in the match."

He said that they did not batted well in the first innings but bowlers done a very good job folding the visitors with a small total.

Siddons said Rajib bowled very well, especially in the test. He did a hard job in last two tests as well and got the fruit in the day.

South African batsman AB de Villiers said they are still optimistic about doing well in the match despite the day's bad batting performance. He said their target would be to restrict the opponents at below 200 runs.

He said that bowlers bowled well dismissing quick four wickets and brought them in the match.

Echoing the views of Rajib, Villiers said that more than 250 runs would be a competitive score on this pitch.

Badda Ekota registers seven-wicket win over Dhanmondi Club

UNB, Dhaka

Badda Ekota Samaj Kalyan Sangha registered an emphatic seven wicket win over Dhanmondi Club in match of the Metropolis First Division Cricket League at the Jahangir Nagar University ground on Saturday.

Sent to bat first, Dhanmondi Club were dismissed cheaply for 77 runs in 35.5 overs with Murad scoring 32 runs.

Moniruzzaman and Tanvir claimed three wickets for 13 and 22 runs respectively.

In reply, Badda Ekota Samaj Kalyan Sangha reached to the winning target scoring 78 for 3 in 21.1 overs with Somen Das contributing 35 runs.

Rumman Islam captured two wickets for 16 runs.

Results of the day's other matches: Rupali Bank Cricket Club (174/5) beat Jatrabari KC (173/10) by five wickets at the BKSP-2 ground in Savar;

Gazi Tank Cricketers (182/8) defeated Uttara SC (177/10) by two wickets at the Dhanmondi Cricket Stadium; Kathal Bagan GCC (228/10) outplayed Sadaran Bima SC (191/10) by 37 runs at the Dhaka University ground and Indira Road KC (152/10) beat Cricket Coaching School (137/10) by 15 runs at the BKSP-1 in Savar.

Armanitola High School, Narayanganj High School win

UNB, Dhaka

Armanitola High School blanked Rayer Bazar High School by 8-0 goals in a match of the Dhaka Bank Shaheed Smriti School Hockey Tournament at the Moulana Bhasani National Hockey Stadium on Saturday.

The winners led the first half 5-0.

In the day's other match, Narayanganj High School also drubbed Suvadda High School by 8-0 after leading the first half 5-0.

Ponting determined to turn form around

AFP, Melbourne

Embattled Australian captain Ricky Ponting believes time at the crease is the only cure for his current slump in form.

The normally prolific Ponting failed again in the rain-shortened tri- series win over Sri Lanka on Friday, run out for 11.

It took his tally for the series to just 64 runs at 10.66, and follows a relatively unproductive Test series, where his only score of note was a dour century on a flat Adelaide pitch in the final Test.

Speaking here after Friday's rain-shortened win over Sri Lanka, Ponting said tricky pitches and good bowling had contributed to his run of outs.

He also revealed he had rejected an offer of a break from the Australian selectors, and said he was confident of turning his form around, starting with Sunday's tri-series clash against India in Sydney.

"I really do only think it's getting half-an-hour to an hour in the middle and every batsman says that," he said here.

Bangladesh play SA in quarterfinal today

UNB, Dhaka

Bangladesh, the unbeaten champions of Group D, play Group B runners-up South Africa today (Sunday) in one of the two quarterfinal matches of the ICC U/19 Cricket World Cup at Bayueams Oval in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

In the day's other quarterfinal match, Group B champions India face Group D runners-up England at the Kinarara Cricket Academy in Kuala Lumpur.

In the remaining quarterfinal matches on Monday, Australia will meet holders Pakistan at the Kinarara Cricket Academy while New Zealand take on Sri Lanka at the Royal Selangor Club ground in Kuala Lumpur.

Bangladesh, which emerged group D champions, inflicted a massive 178 defeat on Bermuda in the opening group match, beat Ireland by eight wickets in the second match.

Bangladesh confirmed the quarterfinal berth with a stunning 13-run win against England in the 3rd group match to take revenge of their defeat in the last ICC youth meet.

In the Plate championship, hosts Malaysia will play Namibia while Nepal face Zimbabwe in the 9th place deciding play-off matches, both on Sunday at Johor Baru.