Bangladesh women storm into handball final past Maldives, India await in title clash
Bangladesh's women have marched into the final with a commanding win over the Maldives. In the title decider of the Begum Khaleda Zia IHF Nations Trophy handball tournament, the hosts will now face a powerful India side.
On Tuesday (20 October), Bangladesh beat the Maldives 33-20 at the Shaheed Captain M Mansur Ali Stadium in Paltan, Dhaka. Victory in the final round-robin match of the four-nation tournament was essential to reach the final, and the women in red and green delivered exactly that.
Both teams attacked from the start, but Bangladesh seized control quickly in the first half. Scoring in waves, the hosts went into the break leading 16-5. That 11-goal cushion built before half-time ultimately laid the foundation for the victory.
The Maldives tried to fight back after the restart. The second half was far more even — the visitors scored 15 goals against Bangladesh's 17 in that period. But it was not enough to overturn the big first-half deficit, and Bangladesh closed out the match with a 13-goal winning margin.
The standout performer in the win was Mosammat Sanjida Akter. She scored eight goals on her own and was named player of the match.
After the game, Sanjida said the team had discussed the mistakes made in the earlier match against India and tried to correct them against the Maldives — an effort that showed in their performance on court.
Pledging to give their best in the final, Sanjida said: “We will try to give our best. Since the match is on our home soil, we will want to protect our honour. The rest is God's will.”
She also pointed to the difference in preparation between the two finalists. In Sanjida's words: “You know India are a thousand times better than us. Because they practise regularly and stay in camp all year round. We don't get that kind of camping. We have a camp of four or five months, and within that time we prepare ourselves as much as we can.”
Bangladesh began the tournament by beating Nepal 33-20. But in their second match they lost heavily, 47-13, to a strong Indian side. That made victory in the final league match crucial for a place in the final — and Ana Alonso Fragua's team achieved the target by defeating the Maldives.
Under the revised schedule, Bangladesh will face India in the final on Thursday (22 October) at 3pm. Before that, on Wednesday (21 October) at 2pm, the Maldives will play Nepal in the bronze-medal match.
A trophy on home soil is now within reach for Bangladesh's women. Despite the heavy league-stage defeat to India, the team speaks of fighting afresh in the final — and supporters hope home-crowd backing will help Sanjida and her teammates produce a different result this time.
