Youth Games opening today

Yeasin Hasan: The curtain on the inaugural Bangladesh Youth Games will lift today evening through a colourful ceremony at the Bangabandhu National Stadium as the budding athletes from across the country have lined up in the capital to demonstrate their ability after making it through to the grassroots level.

More than 2,500 young athletes aged under 17, who made it all the way to the final stage after competing in two phases in their respective district and divisional rounds in December and January respectively, will take part in 21 disciplines at around 17 venues of the capital.

Chief patroniser of the mega event, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will announce the official inauguration of the event’s final stage at one of the major venues, Bangabandhu National Stadium Saturday evening. Commonwealth Games gold medalist Asif Hossain Khan is nominated to light the Games’ torch soon after the inauguration.

The venue will be open for public from 4:00pm to 5:30pm, after which the opening ceremony will begin, which includes DJ show, audio-visual displays, mascot parade, dance and musical performances, followed by laser show and fireworks. The BNS, which will host the events of athletics, already unleashed a colourful outlook ahead of the Games.

Highest 10 venues at the historical Paltan maidan will host the majority of the disciplines. Along with kabaddi, hockey, handball, volleyball, boxing stadiums as well as the chess federation hall-room hosting their own events, the National Sports Council gymnasium will hold weightlifting and taekwondo, newly-built roller skating complex will field wrestling and wushu events while badminton and table tennis will take place at the wooden-floor indoor stadium.

Mirpur indoor stadium (judo) and swimming complex, squash court at the BAF Shaheen School, Gulshan Shooting Complex, Shaheed Ahsanullah Stadium in Tongi (archery) and the indoor of BKSP (basketball) will host the other events. The football matches are already rolling at Kamalapur Stadium since Wednesday.



risingbd/Dhaka/March 10, 2018/Mukul