The Bangladesh Carrom Federation (BCF) has started a month-long training camp to prepare its players for the upcoming 4th Carrom World Cup scheduled to be held in Maldives from September 13-17.
A total of 18 players including 10 in the male section and 8 in the female section are involved in the camp to grab the 4+4 slots. Selections will be finalised on August 20. Hafizur Rahman, however, dubbed as the best player of the country is yet to join the camp reportedly due to some misunderstanding with the federation.
Though Hafizur is absent in the camp the other top players - Humayun Kabir, Hemayet Mollah and Moniruzzaman - are attending the camp.
In the women’s section Shamsunnahar Maqsuda, Farzan Akhter, Farzana Prity and Afasana Khatun are the top players and they are going through the training.
The Bangladesh carrom team’s last mission was in 2012 when the men’s side defeated Canada to finish third in the World Carrom Championship held in Colombo, Sri Lanka.
Bangladesh lost to India in the semifinals of the team event and were pitted against Canada in the third-place decider. Earlier in the group phase, Bangladesh beat United Arab Emirates and Maldives to reach the knock-out stage. Hafizur finished sixth in the world rankings while Hemayet and Moniruzzaman were positioned 13th and 15th respectively.
The BCF will have to pay $160 per player as entry fee. The host federation will also have to arrange the costs of transport and food. Canada, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, Maldives, Pakistan, Poland, Sri Lanka, Switzerland, United Kingdom and United States have confirmed their participation.
