Expatriate boxer Zeenat Ferdous dreams to wear red-green jersey as she expressed her optimism to represent Bangladesh in the Hangzhou Asian Games scheduled to be held in September in China.
Talking to BSS at a Bangladesh Gymnastics Federation`s (BGF) award distribution ceremony held today (Thursday) at National Sports Council gymnasium, she expressed her hope to represent Bangladesh in the Asian Games. The 29-year old boxer Zeenat attended the award ceremony as an invited guest.
Zeenat was born and raised in New York. But the blood of Bangladesh still flows in her body. Zeenat`s father`s homeland is in Nawabganj upazila in Dhaka while her mother`s homeland is in Pabna district. The couple moved to the United States in 1987.
This is not the first time that Zeenat has come to Bangladesh, but came for the first time to play. An excited Zeenat said: "I have come to Bangladesh for the sixth times. This time, of course, I have to come in Dhaka to play."
When asked how she communicated with the Bangladesh Boxing Federation, she smiled and said: "The right person made the thing possible at the right time. BGF`s president Sheikh Bashir Ahmed has helped me in this regard".
Zeenat plays in 50 kg weight category. She claimed to be the champion of the New York region, “I am the champion of the New York region," she said.
This is not the first time that expatriate athletes have appeared in Bangladesh`s sports arena. Before this, American expatriate gymnast Quazi Syque Ceasar, footballer Jamal Bhuyan from Denmark, Tariq Kazi from Finland, swimmer Junaina Ahmed and athlete Imranur Rahman from London are representing for Bangladesh. Zeenat wants to write her name in that line.
"I want to make Bangladesh proud. Syque Ceasar played in the Olympics in gymnastics. I also want to play in the Olympics. My dream is to raise the flag of Bangladesh on foreign soil,” she said.
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