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Asian Games: Bangladesh shooters disappoint, others too
Bangladesh may have to return empty handed from the Asian Games this time after shooting team put up a disappointing performance.
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2018 Asian Games logo (Antara/Widodo S. Jusuf)
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t looks as if Bangladesh will have to return empty handed from the Asian Games this time after shooting team put up a disappointing performance following the women’s kabaddi team's failure to stay in medal contention.
Bangladesh had earned only one bronze from the games in the last edition, courtesy of the women's kabaddi team.
Shooting and women's kabaddi are the two events that everyone had expected to bring positive results.
This time the women's kabaddi team lost all three of their group games, the latest of which came against Korea by 52-25 points today.
The men’s kabaddi team won against Sri Lanka 29-25 in their third group match having lost the opening fixture against India before winning against Thailand in the second match.
The archers started their qualification round today, and target set by the federation officials in this event is to reach the quarterfinals, if possible.
Swimmer Mahfizur Rahman Sagar, who opted out of 200m freestyle event, finished 36th among 51 competitors in men's 50m freestyle event today, clocking 24.54 seconds. His personal best in this event is 23.95 seconds.
In women's freestyle wrestling 68kg category, Sherin Sultana lost 5-0 against Zhou Feng of China in the Round of 8, which was also the first round.
However, the biggest disappointment was reserved for shooting, a discipline where there was no outright hope yet some expectations. Following Abdullah Hel Baki’s frustrating outing yesterday, Shakil Ahmed, a Commonwealth Games silver medallist in 50m air pistol event, frustrated in 10m air pistol event today, finishing 22nd with a score of 570 points. The eighth and final qualifier shot 579 points.
Shakil said he has improved his score and he is looking forward to World Cup in Korea next month to earn a quota for 2020 Olympics. “Actually my score is seven points more than what I shot to move into the final round of the Commonwealth Games. So my performance is improving, but still we have a long way to go,” Shakil said. “I want quota for 2020 Olympics and win medals in next year's South Asian Games.”
The other Bangladeshi participant, Piash Hossain, shot 547 points to finish 36th.
In the 50m rifle three positions men, the two Bangladeshi competitors finished 28th and 29th out of 32 participants with 1125 points each.
Bangladesh’s rifle shooting coach Klavs Christensen said the federation should send shooters to world events more to get them more game temperament.
“I don't want to be critical, but I would like the shooters to be sent to more international events or otherwise they won't be able to compete at this event,” the Danish coach said.
If Bangladesh want to target medals in Olympics or Asian Games in near future, they should pick a select few players and train them well for long time. Otherwise medals will not come anytime soon,” Christensen said.
With most of the other disciplines failing, the concentration will be now on football and hockey, not for winning medals, but for carrying the positive performance they have achieved thus far.
This article appeared on The Daily Star newspaper website, which is a member of Asia News Network and a media partner of The Jakarta Post
