Athletes show signs of improvement

---

As the 11th SAF Games is knocking at the door, sprinter Shamsun Nahar Chumki and long-jumper Sajib Hossain improved their timing in trial held at the Bangladesh Krira Shikkha Protisthan in the city Saturday, reports BSS.
The regional sports meet is due to be held in the capital and three other district towns from January 29 to February 9.
Hurdler Sumita Rani and sprinter Golam Mortaza remained at course to keep close to their original timings.
Sajib, who set a new national record last November in the Summer Athletics in the high jump by going over the bar by 2.04 metre, gave some hope for the organiser by clearing 2.05 metres, while Junaed Hossain finished at distant second by clearing 1.95 metres.
"I am quite happy after putting up my best today and I believe I can still improve another 15 centimeters. However, I am trying to maintain today's performance," said Sajib, a student from Bangladesh Krira Shikkha Protisthan.
Sprint Queen Chumki showed marked improvement in the 100m sprint to take 11.90 seconds. In the last Summer Athletics, she clocked 12.00 seconds while Iva finished behind Chumki, whose main rival Nazmun Nahar Beauty did not take part due to hamstring injury.
The Bangladesh Athletic Federation is hoping for the coveted gold medal in men's long-jump and the women's 100m hurdle from the SA Games.
The game governing body and BOA arranged the one-day meet to assess the performance of the athletes, who have been preparing for the regional extravaganza.
Sumita was the lone competitor in the 100m hurdle clocking her personal best timing of 13.80 sec. Her fellow mate huddler Jasmine Akhter did not take today's trial due to hamstring injury.
Sprinter Golam Mortaza also emulated Sumita to maintain his timing he registered during the Summer Athletics meet. Mortaza a student of Daffodil University, took 10.70 seconds to finish first, but Imran Bhuyan, who was sent to Malaysia for advanced training, frustrated all to finish fourth in the sprint.
Meanwhile, five athletes Nazmun Nahar Beauty, Jasmine Akter, Al Amin, Afzal Hossain Surya and Emran Bhuiya received advanced training in Malaysia for two and a half months as part of their preparation for the SA Games and the first two athletes skipped the trial due to their injuries.
Afzal Hossain Surya timed 54.00 seconds to finish 400m hurdle while Al Amin, who has a record of jumping 7.81 metres in practice, was supposed to take part in the long-jump event.
Apart from those events, Asadul Islam finished first in 110m hurdle with a time of 14.49 seconds while Saidul Islam took 14.72 seconds to finish behind Asadul.
Golam Mandal became first in the marathon, Shahin finished first in 5000m run with a time of 16:26.55 minutes while Firoz Sarkar took 16:27. 08 minutes to finish second.
Selim Mia emerged champion in 1500m run with a time of 4:15.13 minutes, Azharul Islam clinched the 400m sprint title timing 49.60 seconds and Putul bagged gold in 400m women's sprint clocking 58.30 seconds.