SUPERSUB: Bangladesh substitute Tawhidul Alam Sabuz goes on a celebratory lap after scoring the all-important goal against India in the men's football semifinal of the 11th SA Games at the Bangabandhu National Stadium yesterday. PHOTO: Amran Hossain

Bangladesh fired blank when it came to winning a gold on the eight day of the 11th South Asian Games yesterday.
However the men's football team of the hosts went one step closer to ending a long gold drought after scoring a 1-0 win against India in the first semifinal at the Bangabandhu National Stadium. An 85th minute strike from substitute Tawhidul Alam Sabuz separated the two teams much to the delight of a strong 20,000 home crowd at the Big Bowl.
Bangladesh will take on Afghanistan, who stunned Maldives 1-0 in the other semi, in the final billed for Monday.
It was a day when Bangladesh men's hockey team came tantalisingly close to pulling off a famous win against India. After leading the first half 2-0, the home side eventually finished the match on 3-3 at the Maulana Bhasani National Hockey Stadium.
The draw deprived Bangladesh of a place in the final.
However it was the first time Bangladesh hockey team drew with India. Their previous best performance against the hockey superpower was a 1-0 defeat in Seoul Asiad way back in 1986.
The men's cricket team however sent Pakistan packing with a 52-run win at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium to set up a gold medal clash with Sri Lanka on Sunday.
Elsewhere, India continued to dominate with their swimmers setting the National Swimming Complex afire on the opening day of the competition with their natants lifting four out of five gold decided on the day. The Indian shooters also dictated terms at the National Shooting Range in Gulshan, where they claimed all four gold decided on the day.
It was however a day of silver for Bangladesh in swimming where they won three. The highlight of it was Mahfuza Khatun's brave effort in the women's 50m breaststroke, where she finished 0.28 seconds behind Sri Lanka's gold winner Minekasashmini Natasha Karunarathne.
India improved their tally to 40 gold, 17 silver and 10 bronze. Pakistan remained in the second position with a tally of 6-16-9 while Bangladesh stayed at third place with 5-10-19.
Meanwhile, the glamorous athletics competition starts at the Bangabandhu National Stadium today.