The curtains on the Bangabandhu 9th Bangladesh Games will rise today at the Bangabandhu National Stadium with renewed hope as well as anxieties over the worsening pandemic situation across the country.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will declare the Games open from digital platform in the evening, with the three-hour-long opening ceremony getting underway at 5:30pm.
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The stage is set for more than 500 athletes, who have been eagerly waiting to prove themselves in the multi-sports extravaganza for one year as the pandemic deferred the jamboree by a year and confined all athletes to their homes for most part it.
Now they are ready to vie for 1271 medals in 378 events of 31 disciplines, however, some disciplines such as fencing, football, hockey and cricket having already got underway.
The first medals of the Games were decided yesterday when Bangladesh Navy’s Mohammad Imtiaz beat Ansar’s Sagar Khan to win the gold medal in fencing’s epee category.
The torch has already reached the capital after starting its journey from Tungipara, the birth and resting place of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. BOA president and Army Chief General Aziz Ahmed lit the torch before handing it to BOA Secretary General Syed Shahed Reza. Renowned athletes carried the torch from Tungipara to Dhaka before Sheikh Mohammad Aslam and Gazi Ashraf Hossain Lipu handed it to State Minister for Youth and Sports Zahid Ahsan Russel, who then handed it over to SA Games gold medallist shooter Sharmin Akter Ratna and boxer Mohammad Jonny.
Ace golfer Siddikur Rahman and SA Games double gold medallist swimmer Mahfuza Khatun Shila will ignite the flame today at the BNS, where the opening will feature audio-visual segment of remarkable achievements of Bangladesh sports, march-past of athletes, mascot parade, display of Bangabandhu and Bangladesh, stage show, laser show and fireworks.
