The Begum Khaleda Zia International Women’s Handball Tournament, known as the IHF Nations Trophy will be held from October 18 to 22 at the Captain M.
Mansur Ali Stadium in Paltan. The five-day competition will feature teams from the host nation, Bangladesh, as well as India, Nepal, and the Maldives.
A press conference regarding the tournament was held at the Dutch-Bangla Bank Auditorium of the Bangladesh Olympic Association (BOA) in Dhaka on Thursday.
The competition will follow a round-robin league format, with the four teams playing each other once.
Two league matches will be held daily on October 18, 19, and 20. Following the league stage, the bronze medal match will take place on October 21, and the final will be held the following day.
Bangladesh Captain Ismetara Nishi is confident about reaching the final. But she is not taking any of her opponents lightly.
Pointing specifically to the progress made by Nepal and Maldives, Nishi noted, the team’s planning cannot be focused solely on India.
Nishi said, ‘This is the first time we have trained under a foreign Coach. We hope to reach the final.
The Maldives and Nepal have shown significant improvement. Eight players from the Nepal squad play for the Army team; they are certainly a tough opponent. We cannot focus solely on India.’
Ana Alonso, the Spanish Coach of the Bangladesh women’s team, said, “I would like to thank the Bangladesh Handball Federation for giving me the opportunity to work with the women’s team.
The experience has been wonderful in every respect. We are not just working to win this tournament; we are also focused on strengthening the foundation for the future of the Bangladesh women’s handball team and for upcoming competitions. We are on the right track.”
Bangladesh Handball Federation General Secretary Salahuddin Ahmed said, “the upcoming South Asian Games (SA) are significant for Bangladesh. The Federation intends to use this tournament as preparation to perform well there.
Our primary focus is the upcoming SA Games. In the previous two instances, we were unable to overcome Nepal; this time, we aim to perform well at the Games.”