Mesbah, Shirin face testing time

40th National Athletics begin tomorrow

Fastest man Mesbah Ahmed and Shirin Akhtar of Bangladesh Navy are  again favouruites to retain the coveted 100metre sprint title as Joyjatra Foundation 40th National Athletics Championship begins tomorrow.

The three-day championship organised by Bangladesh Athletics Federation (BAF) and sponsored by Joyjatra Foundation will be held at Bangabandhu National Stadium from December 22 to 24.
Mesbah is expected to do a new record of becoming fastest man for fifth time. But he will have to overcome a tough challenge from his Army counterparts Mehedi and Sharif and Ujjal Sutradhar. It is not unlikely to see a new sprint king of the country as the latter trio developed their timing and may topple Mesbah.
A lanky Shirin, who has the experience of taking part in the Rio Olympics along with Mesbah, is looking for her fourth straight crown. Shirin’s main challenger will be her teammate Sohagi.
Although, Mesbah and Shirin are mostly focusing in the media for their last few years performance and this time fans want to see an improved timing after their valuable experienced they gathered in Rio Olympics. Mesbah will be known his fate on the very first day as the men’s 100metre sprint will take place on December 22 at 3.3-pm. While the women’s prestigious 10metre dash will take place at same time on December 23.
The sponsor Helena Jahangir, chairperson of Joyjatra Foundation, has announced at a press conference yesterday that apart from the sponsorship money, she will personally award Tk 10,000 each to sprint king and queen.
On the other hand Bangladesh Navy and Bangladesh Army will make an all out battle to snatch the top spot in the medals’ table in the 36 event championship as most of the leading athletes are belonged to them. About 600 athletes drawn from 64 districts, eight divisions, universities, education boards, BKSP and services teams.
BAF general secretary Md Ibrahim Chengis while talking this correspondent that he is not much optimistic about seeing a number of new national records. “Still let’s us hope and pray that the athletes would do their best to better the old records,” said Chengis who is trying to improve the standard of the game from the grassroots.
He is also trying to enrich the federation fund and said, “ This time the sponsor would give Taka six lakh for the national championship. We are tying to sign at least a four year deal of Tk 50 lakh with Joyjatra Foundation for sponsoring the national meet as well as for the development of athletics.” 
State minister for youth and sports Biren Sikdar will inaugurate the championship as chief guest on December 22 at 9 am. Joyjatra Foundation chairperson Helena Jahangir will be present as special guest.

Mesbah, Shirin face testing time

40th National Athletics begin tomorrow

Fastest man Mesbah Ahmed and Shirin Akhtar of Bangladesh Navy are again favouruites to retain the coveted 100metre sprint title as Joyjatra Foundation 40th National Athletics Championship begins tomorrow. The three-day championship organised by Bangladesh Athletics Federation (BAF) and sponsored by Joyjatra Foundation will be held at Bangabandhu National Stadium from December 22 to 24. Mesbah is expected to do a new record of becoming fastest man for fifth time. But he will have to overcome a tough challenge from his Army counterparts Mehedi and Sharif and Ujjal Sutradhar. It is not unlikely to see a new sprint king of the country as the latter trio developed their timing and may topple Mesbah. A lanky Shirin, who has the experience of taking part in the Rio Olympics along with Mesbah, is looking for her fourth straight crown. Shirins main challenger will be her teammate Sohagi. Although, Mesbah and Shirin are mostly focusing in the media for their last few years performance and this time fans want to see an improved timing after their valuable experienced they gathered in Rio Olympics. Mesbah will be known his fate on the very first day as the mens 100metre sprint will take place on December 22 at 3.3-pm. While the womens prestigious 10metre dash will take place at same time on December 23. The sponsor Helena Jahangir, chairperson of Joyjatra Foundation, has announced at a press conference yesterday that apart from the sponsorship money, she will personally award Tk 10,000 each to sprint king and queen. On the other hand Bangladesh Navy and Bangladesh Army will make an all out battle to snatch the top spot in the medals table in the 36 event championship as most of the leading athletes are belonged to them. About 600 athletes drawn from 64 districts, eight divisions, universities, education boards, BKSP and services teams. BAF general secretary Md Ibrahim Chengis while talking this correspondent that he is not much optimistic about seeing a number of new national records. Still lets us hope and pray that the athletes would do their best to better the old records, said Chengis who is trying to improve the standard of the game from the grassroots. He is also trying to enrich the federation fund and said, This time the sponsor would give Taka six lakh for the national championship. We are tying to sign at least a four year deal of Tk 50 lakh with Joyjatra Foundation for sponsoring the national meet as well as for the development of athletics. State minister for youth and sports Biren Sikdar will inaugurate the championship as chief guest on December 22 at 9 am. Joyjatra Foundation chairperson Helena Jahangir will be present as special guest.