The SAFF U-19 Women’s Tournament is set to begin in Pokhara, Nepal, on January 31, with the Bangladesh squad arriving in Kathmandu a day earlier to finalize their preparations. However, their journey to Pokhara was disrupted by unfavorable weather conditions early this morning.
Bangladesh was scheduled to depart Kathmandu at 7:30 am local time on a Buddha Airlines flight. Poor visibility at the airport grounded operations, forcing a nearly five-hour delay before the team finally landed in Pokhara at 1:30 pm.
“𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒚𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒘𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒗𝒊𝒔𝒊𝒃𝒍𝒚 𝒅𝒓𝒂𝒊𝒏𝒆𝒅 𝒂𝒇𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒍𝒐𝒏𝒈 𝒘𝒂𝒊𝒕, 𝒔𝒐 𝒘𝒆 𝒅𝒆𝒄𝒊𝒅𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒑𝒓𝒊𝒐𝒓𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒛𝒆 𝒓𝒆𝒄𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚,” 𝒂 𝒕𝒆𝒂𝒎 𝒐𝒇𝒇𝒊𝒄𝒊𝒂𝒍 𝒔𝒂𝒊𝒅.
Butler Cancels Session Ahead of Bhutan Clash SAFF U-19
Head coach Peter Butler called off the day’s training session, citing fatigue among the players following the extended delay. The team had left their hotel before sunrise, only to remain stranded at the airport for hours.
Bangladesh is set to face Bhutan in their opening match the day after tomorrow, with the compact tournament schedule featuring two games per day. Each of the four participating teams will play three matches, and the top two sides on points will advance to the final on February 7.
“𝑾𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒔𝒖𝒄𝒉 𝒂 𝒕𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒔𝒄𝒉𝒆𝒅𝒖𝒍𝒆, 𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒕 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒓𝒆𝒄𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚 𝒃𝒆𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒆 𝒋𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒂𝒔 𝒊𝒎𝒑𝒐𝒓𝒕𝒂𝒏𝒕 𝒂𝒔 𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆 𝒐𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒑𝒊𝒕𝒄𝒉,” 𝑩𝒖𝒕𝒍𝒆𝒓 𝒏𝒐𝒕𝒆𝒅.
SAFF U-19 the tournament also marks a key phase in Bangladesh’s broader preparations, as the women’s national side gears up for its historic first appearance in the AFC Women’s Asia Cup.
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