Bangladesh secured their record 19 gold medals in the ongoing 13th South Asian Games in Nepal when Bangladesh Men’s cricket team (U-23) beat Sri Lanka (U-23) by seven wickets at Kritipur, Nepal on Monday.  Bangladesh’s best performance in the SA games was winning 18 gold medals back in 2010 when Bangladesh was the host of the event.  Winning the gold for the second time in men’s cricket, Bangladesh also strengthened their best SA Games performance outside the country. In 1995, Bangladesh had won seven gold medals in Madras SA Games, which was Bangladesh’s best SA Games display abroad.  In the final of SA Games Men’s cricket, Bangladesh won the toss and opted to field first. Sri Lanka posted 122 runs all-out in 20 overs. The tremendous efforts of the Bangladeshi bowlers set the foundation to win another gold in the event.  Sri Lankan openers posted 36 runs in the first wicket stand which was indicating a big total. But before posting 100 runs on the board, Sri Lanka lost seven wickets.  Hasan Mahmud was the best bowler for Bangladesh taking three wickets conceding 20 runs only in four overs. Fast bowler Sumon Khan and spinner Mehedi Hasan were also imperious with the ball.  Both of them bowled four overs each and conceded 16 and 18 runs respectively to take one wicket each. Along with them, left-arm slow bower Tanvir Islam scalped two wickets conceding 28 runs in four overs.  Shammu Ashan was the best batsman of Sri Lanka scoring 25 off 20 balls with three fours. Apart from him, Pathum Nissanka (22), Nishan Madushka (16) and Charith Asalanka (12) also reached two-digit scored but failed to make big impacts.  In reply, Bangladeshi openers Saif Hassan and SoumyaSarkar added 44 runs in the first wicket stand and it was enough to lay down a solid base for a big win. Soumya fell for 27 off 28 with four fours while Saif posted 33 off 30 with three fours and two sixes.  After the dismissal of the openers, captain Najmul Hossain Shanto took the responsibility to guide the team to victory. Yasir Ali also contributed scoring 19 off 16 deliveries. Shanto remained unbeaten for 35 off 28 with two fours and one six while Afif Hossain also remained unbeaten for five off seven balls.  Eventually, Bangladesh ended on 125 for three in 18.1 overs and completed winning the gold medal in both Women’s and Men’s cricket events of SA Games. Earlier, Bangladesh Women also beat Sri Lankan Women to win their first gold medal in SA Games. Source: UNB AH

The Russian flag and national anthem were banned from next year's Tokyo Olympics and other major sports events for four years on Monday. Russia's hosting of world championships in Olympic sports also face being stripped after the World Anti-Doping Agency executive committee approved a full slate of recommended sanctions as punishment for state authorities tampering with a Moscow laboratory database. Russian athletes will be allowed to compete in major events only if they are not implicated in positive doping tests or if their data was not manipulated, according to the WADA ruling. Still, it is unclear how the ruling will affect Russian teams taking part in world championships such as soccer's World Cup. Russia's anti-doping agency can appeal the decision to the Court of Arbitration for Sport within 21 days. Legal fallout from the WADA ruling seems sure to dominate preparations for the Tokyo Olympics, which open on July 24. Evidence shows that Russian authorities tampered with a Moscow laboratory database to hide hundreds of potential doping cases and falsely shift the blame onto whistleblowers, WADA investigators and the International Olympic Committee said last month. "Flagrant manipulation" of the Moscow lab data was "an insult to the sporting movement worldwide," the IOC said last month. However, WADA's inability to fully expel Russia from the Tokyo Olympics and 2022 Beijing Winter Games frustrated the doping watchdog's vice president. "I'm not happy with the decision we made today. But this is as far as we could go," said Linda Helleland, a Norwegian lawmaker who serves on WADA executive committee and has long pushed for a tougher line against Russia. "This is the biggest sports scandal the world has ever seen. I would expect now a full admission from the Russians and for them to apologize on all the pain all the athletes and sports fans have experienced." Handing over a clean database to WADA was a key requirement for Russia to help bring closure to a scandal that has tainted the Olympics over the last decade. Although the IOC has called for the strongest possible sanctions, it wants those sanctions directed at Russian state authorities rather than athletes or Olympic officials. That position was opposed by most of WADA's athlete commission. It wanted the kind of blanket ban Russia avoided for the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics and the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Games after a state-run doping program was exposed by media and WADA investigations after Russia hosted the 2014 Olympics in Sochi. "This entire fiasco created by Russia has cheated far too many athletes of their dreams and rightful careers, for far too long," the WADA athlete panel said in a statement ahead of the meeting. Russia previously signaled it would appeal the ruling. That must be filed by the Russian anti-doping agency, known as RUSADA. That body was declared non-compliant on Monday, 15 months after it was reinstated by WADA in defiance of athlete opposition. The decision to appeal has been stripped from RUSADA chief executive Yuri Ganus, an independent figure criticizing Russian authorities' conduct on the doping data issue. Authority was passed to the agency's supervisory board after an intervention led by the Russian Olympic Committee. The ROC on Saturday labeled the expected sanctions as "illogical and inappropriate." Russia has stuck to its claim that deceptive edits in the data were in fact made by WADA's star witness, Grigory Rodchenkov. The former Moscow lab director's flight into the witness protection program in the United States was the subject of an Oscar-winning documentary. Technical reasons were claimed — and debunked by WADA investigators — for why the data appeared to have been edited shortly before the delayed handover in January. Source: AP/UNB AH

Bangladesh Women’s cricket team clinched the gold medal in the ongoing 13th South Asian Games (SA Games) on Sunday beating Sri Lanka in the final by two runs at Pokhara in Nepal on Sunday. Bangladesh Women’s best success in SA Games was winning a silver previously. But this time, they bagged their first gold medal in the event riding on the superb bowling effort. Sri Lanka won the toss in the final and opted to field first. Bangladesh were dismal with the bat as they posted only 91 runs for eight in 20 overs. Murshida Khatun and Ayesha Rahman- the opening pair failed to impress as they were departed in just 16 runs. Ayesha posted only two runs while Murshida scored 14 runs. The middle-order disappointed to pose a strong batting show as Bangladesh fell into big trouble losing five wickets just in 36 runs. Farjana Haque and Ritu Moni failed to score any run in the match. Nigar Sultana was the best batter of Bangladesh scoring 29 runs off 38 balls with two fours and one six. Sanjida Islam and Fahima Khatun contributed with 15 each. Eventually, Bangladesh posted a below-par total of 91 runs for eight in 20 overs. Umesha Thimashini bagged four wickets conceding eight runs in four overs with two maidens. Sathya Sandeepani, Tharika Sewwandi, Kavisha Dilhari and Malsha Ranathunga took one wicket each for Sri Lanka as well. In reply, Sri Lanka tumbled for 89 for nine in 20 overs. Bangladesh scalped two wickets in the last over to seal the game for Bangladesh. Earlier, Bangladesh removed both of Sri Lankan openers in just 11 runs. However, their captain Harshitha Madavi scored 32 and Lihini Apsara scored 25, but their efforts went in vain due to the poor batting of the other batters. Nahida Akter took two wickets conceding 9 runs in four overs while Jahanara Alam, Salma Khatun and Khadijatul Kubra bagged one wicket each. Four out of nine Sri Lankan batters were run out in this game. Earlier, Bangladesh beat Sri Lanka, Nepal and Maldives to pave the way to the final. Eventually, they emerged the unbeaten champions of the event and clinched their first-ever gold medal in the SA games. Source: UNB AH

After Mabia Aktar Simanta, Bangladeshi weightlifter Jiarul Islam bagged 2nd gold in weightlifting discipline of the 13th South Asian Games in Nepalese tourist town of Pokhara on Saturday. Jiarul clinched his gold in men’s 96kgs lifting a total 262 kgs -- 120kgs in snatch and 142kgs in clean and jerk. Mabia Aktar Simanta clinched the day’s first gold medal for Bangladesh in the women’s senior-76 kgs of weightlifting competition of the regional meet on the same day. Mabia lifted total of 185 kgs -- 80kgs in snatch and 105 kgs in clean and jerk. Earlier, Bangladesh clinched three silver and three bronze medals in weightlifting discipline of the ongoing regional meet. Fullpoti Chakma clinched the first silver in women’s -55 kgs  while Rokeya Sultana Sathy clinched silver in  women’s senior -71 kgs and Md Shakayet Hossain in men’s senior -89 kgs. Three other Bangladeshi weightlifters – Shabira Molla, Fayema Akhter and Mostain Bella – clinched bronze medals in their respective events. Shabira clinched bronze in women’s senior -49 kgs, Fayema in women’s - 59 kgs and Mostain in men’s senior -61 Kgs. Source: UNB AH

Dipu Chakma made the nation proud as he won the first gold medal for Bangladesh in the ongoing 13th South Asian Games by winning the taekwondo poomsae event 29-plus-year category held on Monday at Satdobato, Lalitpur in Nepal. Dipu scored 16.24 points, beating his rivals from Sri Lanka, India, Pakistan and Nepal to clinch the gold medal. Dipu, who hails from Rangamati, in his immediate reaction after winning the gold medal, said “It was difficult to express my feeling in a word and I still cannot believe that I have won the gold.” Earlier, on the day, Homayara Akter Antara won the first medal for Bangladesh as she secured bronze in the Karate women’s singles kata event. Antara finished third among the fifth participants in this event. Pakistan won gold in the women’s kata event while the silver medal went to host Nepal. On the other hand, Hasan Khan also won bronze medal for Bangladesh in the men’s singles kata event. Source: BSS AH