Bangladesh set for semifinals

The semifinal lineups for the IHF Trophy Handball Tournament were finalized at the Shaheed Captain M Mansur National Handball Stadium yesterday, with both the men's and women's team from Bangladesh moving into the battle of the last four of their respective categories.

The semifinalists of the men's section comprises of Bangladesh, India, Pakistan and Nepal, all of whom won their respective matches on the fourth day of the tournament. Meanwhile the women's section comprises of Bangladesh, India, Sri Lanka and Pakistan.

Bangladesh drubbed Afghanistan 34-7 in the first match of the women's section group stages with the girls in red and green dominating the first half 16-2. Rubina, deservingly, was the highest scorer of the match with nine goals for Bangladesh.

The day's second match of the women's section was a real nail biter as Pakistan edged past Nepal 21-20. Nepal held the lead at 20-19 during the game's last gasp but Pakistan scored twice in the last minute to register an exhilarating victory. Sehar Iqbal of Pakistan tied for the title of highest scorer with Nisha Roy of Nepal as they had nine goals apiece.

In the third match of day, India dominated Maldives 51-13 to cruise into the semis with Menika and Nidhi scoring nine and eight goals respectively.

As for the men's section, Nepal's K.C. Chandra scored nine as he steered his team to a 32-21 victory over Maldives in the first match of the day.

In the second match of the day Pakistan outplayed Afghanistan 44-20 to top the group. Pakistan led the first half 22-12. Belal scored the highest 11 goals for Pakistan.  Both the teams entered the semifinals.

In the third match of the day, Bangladesh's Rabiul Awal took a mammoth tally of ten as the boys outplayed their Sri Lankan counterparts 46-17.