Tough challenges await girls

Bangladesh qualified for the AFC U-16 Women's Championship proper only twice after crossing the qualification hurdle in 2016 and 2018 and the girls will hope to repeat that feat in the AFC U-17 Women's Championship, which will serve as part of Asia's qualifiers for the FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup.

During the draw in Kuala Lumpur yesterday featuring 29 nations, Bangladesh were placed in Group D alongside Singapore, the United Arab Emirates and Turkmenistan. Group D matches will get underway on April 26 in Singapore.

The eight group champions will be divided into two groups for the second round of the qualifiers, with the top two teams in each group will join defending champions Japan, North Korea, China and hosts Indonesia in the finals.

The draw for the AFC U-20 Women's Championship Qualifiers was also held yesterday, with hosts Bangladesh being pitted against Iran and Turkmenistan in Group H. Those matches will get underway on March 8. Bangladesh have never crossed the qualification phase at this level before.

The U-20 competition will follow the same two-tier qualification process.

As the golden generation of women's footballers featuring the likes of Maria Manda, Monica Chakma, Akhi Khatun, Shamsunnahar Sr, Tahura Khatun and others are ineligible due to their age, head coach Golam Rabbani Choton has pinned his hopes on new talents.

"I think both groups are competitive," said Choton. "As we will be playing the U-20 competition at home, we will have a good chance to make it to the next round. We will have some players like Rupna Chakma, Shamsunnahar Jr, Shahed Akter Ripa, Swapna Rani and Kuati Kishku, who became runners-up in SAFF U-19 Women's Championship in September."

Choton added: "Playing in Singapore will be a bit of a disadvantage for the U-17 girls. They have only just played their first international tournament -- the SAFF U-15 Women's Championship -- in Dhaka. But the girls will fight for a second-round berth."