Bangladesh cruised to the final of prestigious Bangabandhu Cup International Kabaddi tournament beating Thailand by 45-26 points in the first semifinal held today (Monday) at Shaheed Noor Hossain National Volleyball Stadium in the city's Paltan area.

The defending champions Bangladesh ranked number five in the world had a cautious start against the ninth ranked Thailand. The scoreline of Bangladesh 2 Thailand 3 in the sixth minute showed the slow scoring rate.

After the change of ends, Bangladesh concentrated upon keeping the lead taking more points with raids rather than catching the Thai attackers. However, right corner of Bangladesh Roman Hossain branded a super performance in the dying minutes with his precise catching. Thailand raider Chayaphon Kamunee troubled Bangladesh defence line and scored eight points but Thailand was unable to break the superiority of Bangladesh.

Tuhin Tarafder, who was adjudged man of the match for his impressive performance in the match, scored 11 points while Mizanur Rahman supported him with 11 points in his team's account.