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| Monday, 9 February 2004 |
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ICC under 19 World Cup in Bangladesh : 10,000 tickets snapped up for Lanka's opening match Sri Lanka's opening match of the fifth ICC under 19 World Cup against Zimbabwe in Bangladesh on February 15 has resulted in 10,000 tickets being snapped up already, the International Cricket Council (ICC) reported. The game will be the first international cricket match to be played in the Bogra district, an outlying town and the organisers have been forced to print extra tickets for the group matches as the initial 28,000 tickets have all sold out. All 9,000 tickets printed for Zimbabwe's matches against Australia on February 18 and Canada on February 19 have also been bought by members of the public, the ICC said. Sri Lanka will play two practice matches prior to the tournament lung-opener on February 15. They play against Bogra DSA XI at Bogra District Stadium on February 12 and against Rajshahi Div XI at Bogura Police Line Ground. ICC Chief Executive Malcolm Speed commended the organisers for their efforts. "I have been very impressed with the enthusiasm that cricket fans in Bogra have shown for these matches," said Speed. "I hope that the feats of these international players will inspire local youngsters to try and follow in their footsteps." The Bogra District Stadium was constructed last year as part of an ambitious Bangladesh government-run project that is expected to leave a strong cricket legacy throughout the country. The 17,000 capacity stadium is a three-hour drive from the capital Dhaka and was inaugurated by the Bangladesh Prime Minister Begum Khaleda Zia on Saturday. It is one of two stadiums that will be used for Group A matches along with the Rajshahi Divisional Stadium which has also been significantly upgraded for the tournament. New playing and practice facilities have also been built in the towns of Chittagong, Fatullah and Khulna. Six qualifiers Six of the sixteen teams had to pass through regional qualifiers to reach the finals of the competition. Uganda created the biggest surprise in the qualifying stages by beating Kenya in the semi-final of the Africa/East Asia-Pacific regional tournament. Though Uganda went on to lose to Papua New Guinea in the final, the victory over Kenya was enough to secure one of two qualifying places from the Africa/East Asia-Pacific regions. Uganda will be the only team making its debut in the tournament while Papua New Guinea will be participating in the tournament for the third time. In Europe, Ireland won through to the finals after missing out in 2002. Scotland claimed the second qualifying place, narrowly squeezing out Denmark and Holland on net run rate. Both sides have featured in the under 19 World Cup on two previous occasions. Canada and Nepal won the regional qualifiers in the Americas and Asia. Canada's last and only appearance in the finals was in New Zealand in 2002. This will be Nepal's third consecutive visit to the competition. The other ten participating nations are the ICC's Full Member countries Australia, Bangladesh, England, India, New Zealand, Pakistan, South Africa, Sri Lanka, West Indies and South Africa. The Opening Ceremony of the tournament is scheduled for tomorrow (Tuesday) in Dhaka with matches running from February 15 to March 5. - [S.T.] |
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