Karateka Hasan Khan could not participate in the men’s individual kata event of the 19th Asian Games in Hangzhou, China Thursday due to late arrival of the coach and manager in boarding the bus from the game village to the event venue.
The players including Hasan arrived at the bus stoppage earlier than the scheduled time but coach Moazzem Hossain Sentu and manager Iqbal Hossain were late as the karateka failed to take the stage in time, according to media reports.
Hasan was supposed to take part in the Round 1 of Pool 1, the first karate event of the day scheduled to begin at Linping Sports Center Gymnasium at 8:30am but the officials could only get on the bus half an hour earlier and when they arrived at the venue, the show had already begun.
Other karateka Nu May Marma managed to start women’s individual kata event which was held later on the day as she scored 36.30 to finish at the bottom of Round 1 of Pool 2 and subsequently could not qualify.
When asked about Hasan’s absence in the event sheet, Bangladesh Karate Federation’s general secretary Kyaw Shwe Hla told Dhaka Tribune that he heard from the team in China that the bus was late.
The federation’s general secretary, who is in Bangladesh, however, admitted that there was negligence of team officials and they will start inspecting the incident soon.
The player and coach could not be reached over phone despite repeated attempts.
