Bangladesh has bagged three gold medals and a silver medal at the ongoing 13th South Asian Games in Kathmandu, Nepal on Tuesday (Dec 3).
Karateist Humaira Akther Antara earned Bangladesh its fourth gold medal in total and third in karate after beating Nepal's Anu Gurung by 5-2 points in the final of the women's -61kg kumite event of the tournament.
"I started playing karate in 2013. Karate is very helpful for the girls. Beside, I have a soft corner for karate since childhood. I can defend me, I don’t need anyone’s support. That’s why I chose karate. My dream was to become a doctor. I studied in Wills Little," she added.
Earlier in the day, Karateist Marzan Akter Priya won the third gold for the country in women's-55kg kumite event beating Pakistani karateist Kouser Sana by 4-3 points.
Mohammad Al Amin clinched the second gold in the men's 60kg kumite event in karate beating Pakistani karateka in the final by four points to secure the top place.
Meanwhile, Bangladesh athlete Mahfuzur Rahman won silver in the men's high jump event in the first day of athletics discipline clearing 2.16metre which is a new national record as well. The previous record of 2.15m was also set by Mahfuzur during the last national meet.
"I’m very happy. It was my dream to win gold in SA Games since I started karate. I sacrificed many things including my study for this game. I completed my HSC this year. I missed the admission tests of University of Dhaka and Dhaka Medical College just because of the SA Games preparation. If I were not playing here I would have got admitted to a good university," he said.
Meanwhile, Bangladesh has already bagged the same number of gold medals in only two days they won during the last edition.