Baki’s wait for gold continues

Bangladesh’s best rifle shooter Abdullahel Baki’s wait for a gold medal in South Asian Games continued as he settled for a bronze in his pet event of 10m air rifle on the fifth day of the Games, which proved to be another gold-less day for the country.

There were five more silver and 13 more bronze medals, however, as Bangladesh’s medal-tally at the end of the day rose to 57 -- four gold, 13 silver and 44 bronze. 

However, it was Baki’s event at the shooting range of Satdobato Sports Complex where all the focus was as the two-time Commonwealth Games silver medallist had hoped to get his first gold medal in the regional games in this third try. But the 30-year-old shooter finished third in the individual event after having settled for a team bronze along with Rabiul Islam and Rabbi Hasan Munna.

Baki scored 228.0 points, missing out on the shootout between the top two by 0.2 points. The shooter from Gazipur said he did not do badly in the final, but things could have been better with a bit of luck.

“I didn’t do that badly in the final. I usually score like this in the final. I got medals with lower scores in the Commonwealth Games. So, I’m not that disappointed with the performance, although it’s disappointing not to get a gold medal in my event,” Baki told reporters.

Baki will have another chance to win a gold when he pairs up with Atkia Hasan Disha for the 10m mixed team event, but this was the event where he excels.

Another silver came from the women’s 50m rifle three-position team event yesterday while two silver medals in wushu came courtesy of Marjina Akter and Sajib Hossain. Fulpati Chakma and Rajkumar Roy won two silver medals in weightlifting.

Mahmudunnabi Nahid and Junayna Ahmed bagged two bronze medals as swimming events of the Games began yesterday.

Meanwhile, there was a thumping victory for the Bangladesh women’s cricket team in Pokhara. Salma Khatun and Co thumped Maldives by 249 runs, bowling the islanders out for just six runs after Nigar Sultana and Fargana Haque’s twin centuries set up a mammoth total of 255 for two.

There was a win too for the men’s football team, who beat Sri Lanka 1-0 to revive their chances of reaching the final.