Bangladesh had a golden time on the tenth day of the 11th South Asian Games when the hosts grabbed five gold medals in karate and taekwondo competitions yesterday.
It was a rush of gold for the hosts at the National Indoor Stadium in Mirpur where the karatekas won four gold, an achievement Bangladesh had never done on a single day and in a single discipline in the Games before. The taekwondo gold came at the National Sports Council Gymnasium.
It was even beyond the expectations of the Bangladesh Karate Federation itself, which set its eyes for two gold medals from the Games.
Karateka Jaw U Pru led the way to a happy hunting day by winning the gold in women's individual kata event. She also combined with Munni Khanom and U Chinu Marma to clinch the team event gold.
Moreom Khatun then popped up from nowhere to take the Under-45kg category kumite gold medal defeating Indian's Velena Valentina.
When the female karatekas were flying high with unprecedented success, the men's team joined the party with Syed Nuruzzaman, Hasan Khan Sun, Hossain Khan Moon lifting the team event kata gold defeating their Pakistan counterparts.
Of seven gold decided on the day, Bangladeshi karatekas grabbed four to stun the sports fraternity and it was really a brilliant performance that also saw the home side win a silver medal and two bronze.
It was not an unexpected success for Jaw U Pru, who also bagged a silver medal in the Under-55kg category.
"It was an expected result for me as I had worked hard for the last seven months without any interruption and I am really happy to present a gold medal to the nation," she said in her immediate reaction.
Jaw U Pru from Bandarban is now dreaming of taking part in other international meets in future.
It was however a different fight for two twin brothers Sun and Moon and they enjoyed the game throughout.
"Our father was a freedom fighter and he told a lot of stories about the Liberation war and it has inspired us to do something that evokes the spirit of fighting and that's why we stepped into the game of karate,” said Sun.
“Our campaign is over in South Asia, we are now looking forward to taking part in the Asian Games and Commonwealth Games and then Olympics though we don't know how far we can go,” said Moon after the match.
Apart from karate, Bangladesh had also something to cheer in taekwondo as Shammi Akhter, after Shamina Farjana Rumi, who on Saturday claimed the first gold, presented the nation with a second when she beat Pakistan's Samia Imdad 8-3 to lift the 49kg category gold medal.
“It is really a rare day for me and I can't express my feeing in words,' said Shammi praising federation general secretary Mahmudul Islam Rana and Korean coach Le.
“The coach always inspired me that I would be able to do something and I am really happy to live up to the expectations of the coach in my first international tournament,” said Shammi from Magura.
Shammi started to play taekwondo in 2007 and took a job in Ansar and VDP. Her one last wish was: "Please, don't stop us here. We want to train more. Let the camp continue in future."
Source: thedailystar.net
