I attended the Asia Cup final cricket tournament that was held at Dhaka Stadium in the year 2002 or 2003. We went to Dhaka to watch the game and stayed at a hotel during this time. I had 3-4 friends and a cousin with me from the very beginning. We had had our ticket almost 3 months before the game started. On the day we left the hotel early morning and took a taxi to reach near the stadium. We found a huge crowd there; in fact, the crowd was much more than we anticipated and expected. I found one of my friends wearing the jersey of a team and others whistles. The crowd and their patience in the line gave the impression how much popular this game over here.
I had a flag with me of the team I supported. We had to stay in the line for about 45 minutes before we finally entered the stadium. I simply became overwhelmed with the sheer number of spectators and their festivity and support for the game.
The game started at 10.00 am and the people were enjoying it very much. The game was really enjoyable and I found supporters for both of the team. The crowd, the music, the competition, the excitement of the game, and the liveliness and spontaneous actions of the spectators were noteworthy. After the first team ended their innings, we went outside and were looking for a hotel to eat. But people were everywhere and there was no seat in the hotel. Finally, we got an empty hotel after walking almost 20 minutes and sat there to have our lunch. We returned to the stadium in 35 minutes and the second innings started. Several TV channels were broadcasting the live game and the number of people watching this very game in the world would not be less that 70 million.
The first team scored 280 and that was a good fighting score at that time. The second team started hammering the bowls from the very beginning. It seemed to me that they would not need more than 30 overs to win the game. But they started losing wickets and in 20 overs they lost 3 wickets. The spirit and excitement of the spectators looked like a waving sea. The team I was supporting started doing really good. In the evening the game started turning in favour of the first team and became very close. Cricket is a game of uncertainty and this game became even more competitive and uncertain. Both teams had the chance to win and the game was changing in every 10 minutes. The last 30 minutes were breathless and extremely exciting and finally the team I was supporting won the match.
This event takes place once in every two years and the schedule and venue are selected and maintained by the ICC. This was my first experience to visit Dhaka as well as watching such an exciting match. I have watched few other cricket matches in the stadium, but none of them was as exciting as this one was. The crowd, the enthusiasm of the people and the superb weather made it an interesting one.
Gosh, this topic is hard for me, I don’t really go to many sporting events, and it isn’t especially an interest of mine. However, I can think of one which enticed me to go and watch, I’ll tell you as much as I can about the event, how often it takes places and why it was, to me at least, interesting!
The sporting event I went to was Le Tour de France – except it wasn’t! For one year only the opening stages took place near to where I live in South Yorkshire, but more of that later.
The event is a world famous cycling race. It takes place every year, in a series of stages which are mainly in France, but it does occasionally pass through other countries. I think it started around 1903 and has taken place each year since then – apart from during the two world wars when obviously it was suspended. The cyclists are professional riders, and the tour is gruelling. The route changes each year, but always includes both hilly and mountain stages, fast flat sections and covers a huge distance of some three and a half thousand kilometres over about 23 days. I am told there are about 20 teams or so each year, each with nine riders. To be honest, I get very confused about how it is all timed and organised, but I do know that for each stage, the rider who has completed it in the fastest time gets to wear a yellow jersey for the next stage of the tour.
The race has fallen foul of cheating over the years, famously Lance Armstrong who won it some seven times I think was later banned for drug taking. However, more recently cycling has cleaned up its act and gained in popularity. In 2014, a decision was made to have the Grand Depart – the start of the Tour de France in South Yorkshire. This part of England where I live has fantastic scenery and very, very steep hills that were deemed suitably challenging of the super-fit and competitive cyclists. Although I’ve never previously been interested in cycling, some of my friends are, and with such a world famous event happening on my doorstep I wouldn’t have wanted to miss out.
On the day of the race itself, lots of roads were closed. I met up with some friends and we caught a tram as far out of the city as we could, and then walked the final stages to a good viewing point along the route. I had no idea what to expect but it was amazing! The weather was gorgeous, and Yorkshire and Sheffield folk had turned out in droves. I think about 2.5 million of us lined the route over the weekend it was passing through. I climbed up a bank and hung onto a tree to get a good vantage point as the cyclists raced through in the peloton (a new word for me that I learned whilst spectating). To be completely honest, the actual cyclists passed by in an instant, what made the event fun to watch was the build-up and the atmosphere. The race was led by a convoy of floats and support vehicles. There was lots of good natured banter and sharing of food and snacks as the crowds waited for the bikes to come, and plenty of people in hilarious fancy dresses on French or cycling themes. Bunting was hanging everywhere, and brightly painted yellow bikes were scattered along the route. The weather showed off our Yorkshire hills and scenery at its very best, it was awesome!
I was really proud to be one of the supporters on what was a once in a lifetime opportunity to see The Tour de France passing through practically on my doorstep (I live in Sheffield). The race director for the event later described Yorkshire's Grand Depart as the "grandest" in the 111-year history of the race, it was wonderful to be part of that… it hasn’t made me want to take up cycling, though – those hills are ferocious!
thank you !!!)
