HSC exams force hosts to turn to U-17 squad

After some key players of the Under-19 squad were rendered unavailable for the International Handball Federation (IHF) Women Trophy, Zone-II due to the upcoming HSC examinations, hosts Bangladesh have shifted their focus to the U-17 team ahead of the start of the tournament in the capital on Saturday. 

The IHF Trophy will feature two women's tournaments: the newly introduced U-17 youth competition and the U-19 Junior competition, featuring India, Bangladesh, Maldives and Nepal, with matches to be played simultaneously at the Shaheed Captain M Mansur Ali National Handball Stadium.

Bangladesh had previously hosted IHF Trophy (U-19 men's and women's) twice, finishing third in the men's section in 2010 before becoming runners-up in both the men's and women's section in 2016. However, the nation's best achievement came in 2014, when the Bangladesh U-19 women's team beat hosts Pakistan to become champions.

"We have made the U-17 side stronger with the inclusion of some talented and skillful players, so we are hopeful of playing the final in the U-17 section," coach Amjad Hossain said. "If we can do well against Nepal and Maldives, then we can hope for something good with the U-19 team."

"We believe the U-19 squad could have been stronger if we had five to six players who are unavailable because of their HSC examinations. However, there are four senior players who have experience in international matches," Amjad said, adding that they could have promoted four players from the U-17s to the U-19s but that would have made the U-17s weaker.

The Bangladesh Handball Federation once held a lot of women's tournaments but it has been greatly reduced in recent times.

"After the Covid-19 pandemic, we couldn't hold school and college-level tournaments for girls. So, we lack experienced players in the past three years. However, the Bangladesh Youth Games gave us an opportunity to find some talented girls this time around," said Amjad.