Archer Ruman shines bright, men's kabaddi team win in Asiad

It’s the day before the Eid-ul-Adha in Indonesia as well and everyone is busy here getting ready to celebrate the big day.

But thousands of athletes continued to be engaged in practising and playing in their respective events of the Asian Games 2018, making their mark in Asia’s biggest multi-sports event.

Bangladesh archers enjoyed a promising day in Jakarta with Mohammad Ruman Shana starting off with a brilliant third-place finish in the ranking round while the men’s kabaddi team registered their second straight victory.

Archery

Ruman shone brightly on the opening day of the archery discipline at the Asiad after being placed third out of 79 participants in the ranking round of the recurve individual event at GBK field in Jakarta Tuesday.

Ruman scored a total of 677 points and only finished behind South Korea's Oh Jinhyek (683) and Im Donghyun (679). 

The 23-year old Bangladeshi was ranked sixth in the first half with 335 but returned with an improved display of 342 that put him at third.

Mohammad Ibrahim Sheik Rezowan and Mohammad Emdadul Haque Milon were placed 36th and 38th respectively in the same event but as only two archers from each country can move to the next round, the latter had to make way for Rezowan, who scored 643. 

The recurve men’s team were placed seventh out of 19 countries.

Ety Khatun, the 13-year old Bangladeshi, became the youngest archer in the Asiad to qualify for the second round of the recurve individual event after placing 51st out of 66 participants. 

Nasrin Akter was placed 43rd in the same event.

Kabaddi

Bangladesh kabaddi team, after their defeat against India in the opening game, defeated Sri Lanka 29-25 in their third match at Theater Garuda in Taman Mini, West Java.

Bangladesh will face powerhouse South Korea in their final Group A match at the same venue Wednesday. 

Bangladesh must win to reach the semi-final while South Korea are currently leading the group table after stunning holder India Monday.

The women's kabaddi team, the bronze medalist of the 2010 and 2014 Asiad, continued to disappoint as they lost to the formidable South Korea 52-25. 

It was the last game for the women’s kabaddi team, who have already seen the exit door.

Swimming

Mohammad Mahfizur Rahman Sagar finished seventh out of as many participants in the men’s 50m freestyle event. 

The 25-year old swimmer clocked 24.54s to touch the finishing line.

Sagor’s overall placing is 36th out of a total of 51 swimmers in a combined seven heats at GBK aquatic centre in Jakarta.

Beach Volleyball

Bangladesh beach volleyball team comprising Mohammad Shahjahan Ali and Mohammad Monir Hossain got a walkover after their group opponent Hong Kong withdrew from the game.

Bangladesh earlier lost to Palestine 2-0 in their opening match at JSC field in Palembang Monday.

Wrestling

Bangladesh’s lone female wrestler at the Asiad, Shirin Sultana got eliminated from the 68kg freestyle event after losing against Chinese wrestler Feng Jhou 5-0 at JCC Assembly Hall.

Bangladesh’s wrestling interests at the Asiad ended with Shirin’s elimination.

Earlier Sunday, Bangladesh's other two wrestlers Mohammad Ali Amzad and Sree Sarot Chandra Ray got eliminated from the freestyle 74kg and 86kg respectively.

Bridge

Bridge has been included in the Asian Games for the first time in Indonesia where a five-member Bangladesh men's bridge team comprising Dewan Mohammad Hanzala, MA Bani Sarkar, Mohammed Salahuddin, Nurul Huda Shamsuzzaman and Sayeed Ahmed are participating.

A total of six rounds were played on the opening day of the bridge event where Bangladesh were ranked ninth out of 14 countries in round one. 

They were ranked 10th and 12th in the second and third round before being placed 11th in the last three rounds.