Curtain falls on Sheikh Kamal 2nd Youth Games tomorrow

Dhaka, March - The curtain of Sheikh Kamal 2nd Bangladesh Youth Games falls tomorrow (Saturday) evening at Bangladesh Army Stadium.

Bangladesh Olympic Association's (BOA) president and chief of army staff General SM Shafiuddin Ahmed is expected to be present in the closing ceremony of the country's domestic extravaganza as the chief guest at 4 pm. 

After the successful conclusion of inter-upazila and inter-district phase, the final phase is being held in Dhaka. Nearly four thousand athletes competed in 193 events of 24 disciplines which included 193 gold, equal numbers of silver and 287 bronze medals.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina formally inaugurated the week-long final phase of the Games at Bangladesh Army Stadium on February 26. 

The sports arena of the capital Dhaka was bustling with the march of budding players. As most of the events are over, the athletes have already returned home. The 100m sprint of athletics event, the special attraction on the last day, will be held to decide the fastest man and woman.

After coronavirus pandemic, economic recession is going on all over the world. Although the condition of Bangladesh is relatively good, considering the situation, the BOA is keen to achieve austerity in everything in organizing the games and decided to organize the closing ceremony on a limited scale like the opening ceremony.
 
The gates of the venue will be closed for the visitors 15 minutes before the arrival of Army Chief General SM Shafiuddin Ahmed at 5.30 pm.

After the 100m sprint event in the boys' and girls' athletics, there will be a break for Maghrib Prayer. A 30-minute audio-visual presentation highlighting various aspects of the final phase of this year's Games will be displayed. Crests will be awarded to organizations that supported the BOA to organize the Games. 

After the speech of the chief guest, the official closing announcement of the games will come and after the cultural program, the curtain of the Games will fall.

The second edition of the Youth Games has been named after Sheikh Kamal, the eldest son of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.

Organised by BOA, Sheikh Kamal 2nd Bangladesh Youth Games is being held in three phases under the overall direction of Sheikh Kamal 2nd Bangladesh Youth Games' chief patron Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.

This year's Games have also been organized at inter-upazila, inter-district and division phases. Under-17 athletes from all upazilas of 64 districts participated in the first level. The first phase inter-upazila was held on January 2-10 last, The athletes of the district participated in the second phase of the inter-district competition held on January 16-22 last. After that eight divisional teams have participated in the final phase in Dhaka. 

Earlier, a strong organizing committee was formed for holding the Games making Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina as chief patron, Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal, MP, as chairman and State Minister for Youth, Sports Mohammad Zahid Ahsan Russel, MP, and BOA's president and Army Chief General SM Shafiuddin Ahmed as the co-chairmen. 

A steering committee and 13 sub-committees were also formed on occasion of the Games. 

To mark the final phase, a torch rally was brought out from Tungipara, Gopalganj on February 23 last. 

BOA's president and chief of army staff General SM Shafiuddin Ahmed officially lit the torch of the Games. As part of final phase ceremony of the Games, the lit torch officially traveled by road and reached BOA Bhaban after passing through different districts. BOA's secretary general Syed Shahed Reza received the torch at BOA Bhaban.

Then the torch was taken to Abahani Club and finally the torch was brought at army cantonment store room. The torch was later taken at inaugural venue on February 26. Country's fastest sprinter Imranur Rahman and 13th SA Games 2019 gold winner karateka Marzan Akter lit the torch in the opening ceremony. The torch will be doused through the declaration of closing ceremony of the Games.

The BOA organized the Youth Games for the first time in 2018. The main motto of the Games was to select future players for national teams in various disciplines and to groom the talents of young athletes. At the same time, the BOA also has taken initiative to ensure the regular presence of young athletes in the sports arena.

The BOA has been organizing a Bangladesh Games and a Youth Games every four years since 2018. In the first edition Youth Games, fifty thousand athletes, coaches, technical officials and sports organizers participated in twenty one disciplines. However, the number of disciplines including individual and team has been increased to twenty four in the second edition.