Basketball: An under-18 Bhutanese youth team defeated St. Joseph higher secondary school of Bangladesh 80-51 in a friendly basketball match held at the Swimming Pool Complex in Thimphu yesterday.

The visitors displayed strong game play in the first quarter, but it was the Bhutanese team which closed the quarter with a seven point lead.

The second quarter went in favour of the Bhutanese team again. Although the St. Joseph team had the physical edge, the team struggled to match the agility of the Bhutanese team on their home court.

Tempa Tshering of team Bhutan said that it was in the final quarter of the game that they were more focused. The team reorganised their defense and took a giant lead of 29 points.

“This was our best quarter in the whole game,” said Tempa Tshering who scored 29 points.

However, the highlight of the match came from St. Joseph’s Pranto Kundu, who made an impression with a dunk. Pranto Kundu also scored the highest for his team and grabbed the maximum rebounds.

One of the participants, Abdullah said that they were sure of winning the game. “Despite a good defensive play from the Bhutanese team, I think we played our best game,” he said.

Bangladesh’s coach, MD Tareq Aziz said that they came here mainly to play friendly games with young Bhutanese to improve their team and gain experience at different levels.

“The Bhutanese team is good. They are very agile and can dribble well with the pace of the game,” Tareq Aziz said.

The team is on a five-day-tour to Bhutan at the invitation of the Bhutan Basketball Federation.

They will play against another under-18 Bhutanese team today.

Tshering Dorji | Intern