At the third Asian Youth Games held in Bahrain, Bangladesh created a new milestone by winning their second bronze medal. Following the success of the girls’ team, the Under-18 boys’ kabaddi team also secured a bronze medal, marking the country’s second medal of the tournament.
In the third-place playoff held at the Isa Sports City, the Bangladesh boys’ kabaddi team convincingly defeated the host nation Bahrain by a staggering margin of 106-17 points to clinch the bronze. The match was witnessed by Bangladesh’s Ambassador to Bahrain, Mohammad Rais Hasan Sarwar, who was present to encourage the players.
Earlier in the tournament, Bangladesh’s Under-18 girls’ kabaddi team won the country’s first medal by beating Sri Lanka to claim bronze.
With these victories, Bangladesh has now won two bronze medals in this edition of the Asian Youth Games — both from kabaddi.
The road to success was not easy for the red-and-green team. They started with a tough loss to a strong Indian team. However, Bangladesh bounced back brilliantly by defeating Iran in their second match. Following this, they secured a consecutive win against Sri Lanka but narrowly lost to Thailand, which knocked them out of the race for the final.
Nevertheless, the team finished strong by beating Pakistan and Bahrain in the last two matches to secure the bronze medal.
This achievement is especially significant considering Bangladesh’s previous participation in two earlier editions of the Asian Youth Games, where they failed to win any medals. The success of both the boys’ and girls’ kabaddi teams in this tournament has written a new chapter in Bangladesh’s sporting history.