The Bangladesh Olympic Association (BOA) is optimistic about archery and shooting disciplines ahead of the 2nd Summer Youth Olympic Games 2014 which will be held from August 16-28 in Nanjing, China. BOA secretary general Syed Shahed Reza also praised the young hockey team for qualifying in the competition.
A 23-man Bangladesh contingent including 13 athletes and 10 officials will fly to China on August 15. Among the 13 participants, 10 of them are currently studying at the Bangladesh Krira Shikkha Protishthan (BKSP), included 11 male athletes and two females. The participants will take part in five disciplines - archery, hockey, shooting, swimming and weightlifting.
Only the hockey team earned the right to play in the tournament through qualifiers - first time for Bangladesh - while the athletes will participate in the other disciplines through the wild-card category. The hockey competition will be played in a five-a-side system. “I am proud of the hockey team. They are the only team who will be going to China after qualifiers. This is the first time in the history of Bangladesh. I am hopeful that the hockey team will put up a good performance,” said Shahed Reza in a press conference at the BOA auditorium yesterday.
The archery team contains only one athlete, Prennoy Murong, and is the only contingent which has already left the country last Friday to take part in the 2nd Asian Archery Grand Prix. Prennoy will fly to Nanjing after the meet. The archery team has gone through a special training camp under a foreign coach since January 7 this year. Prennoy will take part in the individual recurve event in Nanjing.
Only shooter Sharmin Akter will represent Bangladesh in shooting in the Summer Youth Olympics and she will be accompanied by official Abdus Salam Khan. Sharmin will fight for the medal in the 10m air-rifle event.
“The archery team already went to Chinese Taipei and is participating in a tournament while the shooting team has been training for the last seven months. I hope they will deliver a decent result for us,” added the BOA chief.
Meanwhile in the other disciplines, Md. Asif Reza and Jahura Akhter Reshma will represent Bangladesh in swimming (50m freestyle) and weightlifting (48kg) respectively.
Rezaul Karim Babu, captain of the Bangladesh youth hockey team, will carry the national flag in the opening ceremony of the Summer Youth Olympics while BOA vice president Rafia Akhter Dolly will be the Chef de Mission.
A total of 3600 young athletes from 204 countries will take part in 28 disciplines in the tournament. The first edition of the Summer Youth Olympic Games was held four years ago in Singapore where an 11-member Bangladesh team took part in archery, shooting and swimming.