Bangladesh women set for first ever futsal tournament

Bangladesh will take part in the AFC/Fifa-organised futsal tournament for the first time ever in May this year in the form of the national women's team who were placed in Group B along with Chinese Taipei, Vietnam and Malaysia during the official draw of the AFC Women’s Futsal Championship at AFC House in Kuala Lumpur Monday. A total of 15 top Asian football countries will be playing in the second edition of the tournament, scheduled to kick-off in Thailand's capital Bangkok on May 2. The final will be held on May 12. Bangladesh women's team never participated in any futsal event before. "This will be the first time for Bangladesh in a futsal tournament. I think it will be a good experience for the girls who have been in continuous training for a long time," said Golam Rabbani Choton, the women's team head coach, to Dhaka Tribune Monday. Choton added, "Vietnam and Chinese Taipei are good teams. We are completely new in futsal and never played the game before. We will start our preparation specifically for futsal after we return from Hong Kong (four-nation U-15 women's football tournament) in the first week of April."

Here's the AFC Women's Futsal Championship Thailand 2018 draw results! Who's excited? #AFCWFutsal2018 pic.twitter.com/F8BA8xHZnp

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When asked as to who might get into the futsal squad, Choton replied, "We haven't thought about that as of yet. Highest 10 players may get into the squad, the players with futsal-related skills will get the nod. Only Sabina Khatun has the experience of playing futsal before." The winners and runners-up from each group will advance to the quarter-final. At a time, five players can represent a team on a futsal field.DrawGroup A: Thailand, Hong Kong, Indonesia and MacauGroup B: Malaysia, Vietnam, Chinese Taipei and BangladeshGroup C: Japan, China PR, Bahrain and LebanonGroup D: Islamic Republic of Iran, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan