The Bangladesh women's kabaddi team suffered a heavy defeat in the opening match of their five-match Test series against hosts Nepal, losing 41-18 in Kathmandu today.

Despite pledging to show improvement following defeats to Nepal in the 2019 South Asian Games and the 2023 Asian Games, Bangladesh struggled to keep up with their opponents and trailed 18-6 at halftime.

The women in red and green were unable to contain Nepal, who collected several bonus points and dominated raids, scoring an additional 23 points in the second-half.

Head coach Shahnaz Parvin Maleka, however, attributed the loss to fatigue from travel and player injuries.

"We arrived in Kathmandu yesterday [Saturday] and hardly had any rest. Three of our players are dealing with injuries," Maleka said. "We aim to perform better in the next match by addressing the mistakes we made today."