A 19-member Bangladesh basketball team will leave here for Singapore Friday to hold a short training camp and play at least three practice matches as part of their preparation for December's South Asian Games in Nepal.
Bangladesh basketball's only medal – a bronze - in the SA Games came in Dhaka 2010 before the discipline was excluded from the 2016 SA Games in Guwahati.
The federation is targeting at least a silver this time around.
"Here there is less opportunity to play practice matches because we don't have enough players. This is why we arranged this tour so that they can play against better teams. With this we can also select 5-on-5 and 3x3 national team for the Asian Games," informed Bangladesh Basketball Federation general secretary AK Sarkar during a press conference Wednesday .
Bangladesh team will be accompanied by coaches Wasif Ali and Mizanur Rahman while a Fiba (International Basketball Federation) coach will also train the team in Singapore.
The men's team are scheduled to return home next Thursday.
The six-day tour has been sponsored by Walton Group and co-sponsored by Unimed & UniHealth Manufacturer Limited.
The BBF is also planning to send the women's team to West Bengal, India next month.
Bangladesh will take part in three events of basketball in the SA Games - men's 5-on-5 and 3x3 and women's 5-on-5.
The preparation camp for the SA Games began on July 15.
