Bangladesh’s under-19 boys’ team have claimed gold at the South Asian Youth Table Tennis Championship in Shimla, India, finishing as group champions and securing qualification for the ITTF-ATTU Asian Youth Championship in Muscat, Oman, scheduled for 21 to 27 June.
The tournament, held in Shimla, Himachal Pradesh from 8 to 11 April, saw Bangladesh edge a tight three-way finish at the top of their group. Despite Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and Nepal all finishing on five points, Bangladesh claimed top spot on superior set difference, with the decisive result coming in their 3-1 victory over Sri Lanka on the second day of competition.
Bangladesh’s route to gold was not without its anxious moments. BKSP‘s Abul Hasem Hasib fell 2-3 to Sri Lanka’s Viyandua Akain in the opening rubber, leaving the team needing a response. It came swiftly. Nafiz Iqbal levelled with a composed 3-0 victory over Danuka Lamasuriya, before Joy Islam put Bangladesh ahead with another clean 3-0 win against Munasinghe Harin. Captain Nasif Iqbal then sealed the gold with a 3-1 victory over Akain in the final rubber, confirming Bangladesh’s place at the top of the group.
This is not the first time Bangladesh have excelled in this competition. They won gold in the under-19 boys’ category at the inaugural South Asian Junior Championship in the Maldives in 2022, with a squad that included Muhtasin Ahmed Hriday, Ramhimlion Bom, Nafiz Reza, and Abul Hasem Hasib. Silver followed in 2023 in Arunachal Pradesh and again in 2024 in Kandy, Sri Lanka, before a bronze in Kathmandu last year. The gold in Shimla represents a return to the top of the podium.
Results elsewhere in the tournament have been more mixed. The under-15 boys’ team have won their matches against Nepal and the Maldives but suffered a 0-3 defeat to Sri Lanka, with their final group match against India still to come. The under-19 girls’ team have lost all three of their matches so far, against the Maldives, Nepal, and Sri Lanka, with their final fixture against India remaining. The under-15 girls have lost to both Sri Lanka and Nepal and still have two matches to play against the Maldives and India.
It is worth noting that Bangladesh won seven bronze medals across the same competition last year. The singles, doubles, and mixed doubles events are scheduled for Friday and Saturday, with host nation India among the SAARC nations competing across all categories.
