Bangabandhu Cup International Kabaddi tournament which was underway in Shahid Noor Hossain National Volleyball Stadium, Dhaka from 28th March concluded today with hosts Bangladesh winning the title against Kenya in the finals. The Final day of the tournament had the finals as the only game and it was an nail biting contest for most part of the match.
The all anticipated finals began with Bangladesh scoring quick points in the first few raids to take lead but Kenya was quick to pounce back as they got close to the score of the hosts. From being two points behind and going ahead by 8 points, Kenya inflicted an important all-out on Bangladesh to come into the game in style as the scores read 16-8 in favor of Kenya. At end of the first half the scores read 18-10 in favor of Kenya, what an pendulum half this was, Kenya pulling things back after the hosts dominated the first few minutes of the match.
The 2nd half of the final began with Bangladesh drawing first blood and we could see a different intent from the hosts in this final half of the all important final. Suddenly Kenya were staring at an all-out and Bangladesh inflicted an important all-out of Kenya to equalize the scores to 19-19. Suddenly Bangladesh were looking like a different side as everything they touch was turning into gold. Md Juvel pulled off an amazing 3 point super Raid and Kenya were pushed to another all-out in a very short time, the scores now read 28-21 in favor of the hosts. From there on it was all about Bangladesh who took the game away from Kenya in a span of few raids as the hosts pulled off an amazing victory in front of their home crowd with a score difference of 6 points. You got to feel for Kenya as they go down crashing after a lead in the first half.
Md Tuhnt Tarafder from Bangladesh scored 8 points in the game where he performed in both raiding and defending by scoring 4 points each in both departments. Md Juwel and Md Arduzzaman scored 7 points each to help Bangladesh win the Bangabandhu Cup 2021. James Namaba and Daniel Omondi top scored for Kenya by scoring 6 points each but it was not enough to take the team through.
Summary Results from Final Day Bangabandhu Cup 2021
James Namaba from Kenya was announced as the best Raider of the tournament for scoring 41 points in 4 matches and Monirul Islam from Bangladesh won the best defender award for his top performance in the tournament. Md Tuhnt Tarafder from Bangladesh won the player of the tournament award for his all-round performance of 17 raid points and 9 tackle points in the tournament.
Bangabandhu Cup 2021 came to end with a fitting final where we got see an pendulum first half and an sheer dominance by the hosts Bangladesh to win the game in style and remain unbeaten in the competition. It has been that kind of a tournament for the hosts Bangladesh as were at their best through out and produced an clinical performance. All in All Bangabandhu cup 2021 was a tournament to be remembered as we got to see some amazing Kabaddi played by all the teams participating. Special shout to teams like Poland, Kenya and Nepal who displayed some amazing Kabaddi through out the 6 days of the tournament.
