Rupali bids goodbye with crown

Captain Rupali Akter’s official retirement from the national team followed that very tradition on Sunday. The 34-year-old bid farewell to the World Cup stage like a queen, crowned before she walked away.

Before the semi-final match between Bangladesh and Chinese Taipei at the Shaheed Suhrawardi Indoor Stadium, Youth and Sports Adviser Asif Mahmud Sajeeb Bhuiyan placed a farewell crown on Rupali's head. The General Secretary of the Bangladesh Kabaddi Federation, SM Nawaz Shohag, draped her with a stole that read "Happy Retirement."

Rupali, from Jamalpur,  is the only player in the current Bangladesh kabaddi squad who participated in the 2012 Women’s Kabaddi World Cup. She started playing in 2009 at the Asian Junior Kabaddi Championship and represented Bangladesh at the South Asian Games in 2010, 2016, and 2019.

Rupali also competed in the Asian Games in 2010, 2014, and most recently in 2018. On the domestic stage, she enjoyed considerable success representing Bangladesh Ansar. Now, her international journey comes to an end with this Women’s Kabaddi World Cup – the final tournament of her illustrious 16-year career, during which she also served as Bangladesh captain.

After the semifinal match, Rupali became a little emotional while speaking. “The way the federation and my teammates gave me a farewell at the beginning of the match made me a little emotional.” 

“I have been involved with kabaddi for a long time. There isn't any significant bad feeling or experience in my career. I won't be playing competitive kabaddi anymore, but I will stay involved with kabaddi in some way. This is my place of love,” the veteran said.

Despite a defeat in her last match, Rupali took pride in the team's achievement in this tournament.

“​Chinese Taipei is much stronger than us. They defeated Iran by a margin of 10 points. In contrast, we lost to them by only 7 points. It would certainly have felt good if we could have reached the final. However, we won the bronze and that is not a small achievement either.”