Sport in Bangladesh
Sport in Bangladesh is a popular form of entertainment as well as an essential part of Bangladeshi culture.
[2] Bangladesh Games is the largest domestic multi-sport tournament in the country, where athletes and sports teams from all the districts participate.
Its popularity rose after the national team won the ICC Trophy in 1997 and for the first time qualified for the Cricket World Cup in 1999.
Bangladesh Cricket Board is the premier governing body to manage the development of the sport in the country.
In the 2015 ICC Cricket World Cup, Bangladesh beat England and reached the quarter-finals for the first time.
Bangladesh also reached the semifinals of the ICC Champions Trophy in 2017, held in England and Wales, but lost to India again in the semis.
[3] The country's football legacy was even present during the Bangladesh Liberation War, through the rise of the Shadhin Bangla football team, who toured throughout India and played friendly matches to raise international awareness and economic support for the liberation war.
Bangladesh was once considered one of the top sides to play against in the world but has now been weakening due to a lack of funds and other reasons.
Bangladeshi chess player Niaz Murshed is the first Grandmaster to emerge from South Asia in 1987.
The sport was not much notable until Siddikur Rahman became the first Bangladeshi golfer to win an Asian Tour event at the Brunei Open in 2010.
[12] Subsequently, the sport began to get enough media coverage in Bangladesh and also succeeded in acquiring sponsors to ensure its financial sufficiency.
Both men's and women's teams from Bangladesh represent the nation in various international events most notably the South Asian Games.
In addition, BHF, with assistance from the Ministry of Education, holds annual inter-school championships for both boys and girls throughout the country.
Volleyball is very popular in Bangladesh and practiced throughout the country but still struggles to have pleasant performances in the international arena.
[14] The Bangladesh Rugby Association, the national governing body for the sport has been training these children to start an inter-schools tournament.
Bangladesh Rugby has especially been raised under the Current General Secretary Mr Mousum Ali.
Bangladesh shows a bright future in squash, with a flourishing number of tournaments arranged recently,[15] Many promising players is coming up from this country.
Some promising squash players from Bangladesh include Swapan Parvez, Raju Ram, Iman, Tamim, Habbarter Ribhu etc.
Bangladesh succeeded in reaching the semi-finals three years later in Davis Cup 1989 in Asia/Oceania Zone Group II that was held in Singapore.
Although, the game is very popular in schools, colleges, and universities, tournaments outside educational institutions are not rare.
[18] Bangladesh takes part in different international table tennis tournaments and achieved some success too.
In 1997, the Bangladesh boys' team got third place in the first junior competition among 12 countries of the SAARC and ASEAN regions.
Bangladesh has produced a legendary swimmer Brojen Das, who was the first Asian to swim across the English Channel,[19] and the first person to cross it four times.
[20] Bangladesh has been participating in the Olympics, Asian games, and other multinational competitions for athletics but hasn't been pleased with its performance.
[21] Having won some gold and silver medals at some multinational Archery championships, Emdadul Haque Milon and Ruman Shana are the most promising archers in Bangladesh.
But that was founded by Grandmaster Mak Yuree Vajramunee who was selected as one of the top five Superhumans by the Discovery Channel scientists team.
[26] Bangladesh has been taking part in various multinational competitions for Karate and has won a total of seven gold medals at the South Asian Games.
In 2010, Bangladesh achieved the highest number of four gold medals from Karate among all sports events and secured first position in the 11th South Asian Games.
