Jaago win hearts, Meena Sweets, Bando go through

Despite the traffic and the hot weather, which was felt all the more in the auditorium due to a faulty circuit breaker in the air conditioner system, the day started brightly enough with Dhaka Tribune trouncing Brac in a 5-1 bowl pre-qualifier. Tarek of Tribune scored a magnificent four. Meanwhile, Jaago’s misery continued in their debut outing in the Ascent Cup as Aarong romped to a 5-0 win. The Ascent Cup is a ruthless place for newbies, but Jaago still held a place in people’s hearts as the ultimate underdog. Their passion for the game despite the odds is unrivalled in this year’s tournament. Neo Zipper were engaged in an intense matchup against Sterling group. This match had all the spills and thrills one would imagine in a pre-qualifying cup round. The audience were treated to some amazing passing football and counter attacks and Sterling group marginally shaded the encounter by a late Sajeeb strike of Sterling group. As if that was not enough, the next match was an absolute nail biter.....well at least during the first half. The Big Bang Theory (Therap BD) had held the mighty Bando Design to 2-2 for the first 10 mins. Never have we witnessed such commitment and heart from a team who were pitting their wits against a giant like Bando. We salute you for your valiant effort Sheldon (Shahed) and Leonard (Imran). In the second half however, the dam broke loose and a deluge of goals followed from the garment manufacturers. The match ended 10-2 in favour of Bando, their captain Imran, did his goal tally no harm whatsoever by putting in another four goals. He is now on 24 goals from four matches, which is a record since the inception of this tournament. Meena Sweets continued their impressive run in this year’s tournament after a hard-fought encounter with IIDFC. The game had to be decided by a close penalty shootout, after the match was locked at 3-3 at the end of the regulation time plus overtime. It was heart rending to witness the IIDFC players who fell to the ground after their last player Abu Hanif hit the crossbar from the penalty spot. Meena Sweets are looking good for the quarters. Earlier on Monday, Rahimafrooz battled long and hard against Beximco Textiles in the pre-quarter finals of the bowl to end the tie at 4-4. The match had to be settled with the dreaded penalty shootout and the textiles giants took the spoils after converting one more than their opponents. The next match was also decided in a shootout where Orion Power and Augmedix locked horns for the second pre-quarter qualifier, which saw Augmedix getting the better of the conglomerate. Qubee pulled a rabbit out of a hat when they won their encounter with stalwarts Bangla Cat. Qubee, getting better with each game, have a game remaining in the cup, while Cat will be looking to take their chances in the plate. Green Delta also put up another fine performance when they brought Rangs down to earth in a 5-2 rout. Meanwhile, Comfit went on a goal spree against an understrength Runner Group in a 12-nil blitzkrieg. Munna bhai and Co are looking ominous and can call themselves genuine title contenders if they play this way. The last game of the day saw Securex huff and puff to bring down a very organised City Bank. This was an ill-tempered affair which saw both teams engaged in heated encounters all over the pitch. At the end of extra time, a strike from City Bank's Rony settled the tie once and for all, eliminating Securex to the plate. -Arsalan Quddus and Syed Shabab