Notun Kuri sports kicks off Tuesday

The first national-level final phase of the talent hunt program "New Kuri Sports" – aimed at discovering the country's future sports stars – begins tomorrow (Tuesday). State Minister for Youth and Sports Md. Aminul Haque will officially inaugurate the competition with the swimming event at 10:00 AM at the Syed Nazrul Islam National Swimming Complex in Mirpur, Dhaka.

The program features cricket, football, kabaddi, athletics, chess, badminton, swimming, and martial arts for adolescents aged 10 to 14. Selected competitors from various regions across the country will have the opportunity to prove their abilities in this event.

On Tuesday, alongside swimming, kabaddi and cricket events will also take place. The competitions will be held across six venues in the capital – Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium, Shaheed Suhrawardy Indoor Stadium, Bangladesh Army Stadium, Shaheed Tajuddin Ahmed Indoor Stadium, Syed Nazrul Islam National Swimming Complex, and the Bangladesh Chess Federation building.

The closing ceremony of the competition will be held on July 27 at the Bangladesh Army Stadium. On that day, Prime Minister Tarique Rahman will be present as the chief guest and will hand over prizes to the winners.

Meanwhile, the on-field battles have already begun with the cricket events ahead of the official opening. Due to rain preventing matches from being held, the results of two boys' category matches were decided by toss. In one match, Rangpur region defeated Chittagong region to advance to the quarter-finals. In the other match, Dhaka region secured a spot in the last eight by defeating Khulna region.

In the girls' category, match results were also determined by toss in a similar manner. There, Chittagong region beat Rangpur region to secure a place in the round of 16. They will face Sylhet region in the quarter-finals on July 22.