Bipul Gain, a student, gained two Dhaka-Bangkok-Dhaka tickets on Thai Airways as the First Prize of The Daily Star-Standard Chartered Cricket Quiz '98. The Draw of Round One was held at the Jatiya Press Club yesterday afternoon.
Former national cricket captain, possibly the country's best opening batsman ever, former President of Bangladesh Krira Lekhak Samity and presently Member, Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) Roquibul Hassan; former national cricketer, presently BCB vice-president and Chairman, Cricket Committee of Dhaka Metropolitan Tanveer Haider; and renowned Nazrul Geeti vocalist, TV and radio artiste Shabnam Mustari were present at the Draw as specially invited guests. Also present were several quiz participants.
S A A Masrur, Acting Chief, Standard Chartered Bank, the sponsors of the three prizes also graced the occasion.
Mahfuz Anam, Editor, The Daily Star, presided over the proceedings. Dr. Nizamuddin Ahmed, Advisory Sports Editor of the daily, was the Master of Ceremonies.
The Second prize - two Dhaka-Calcutta-Dhaka Biman tickets - was bagged by Farah Diba, a serviceholder. The Third prize - dinner for two at Sonargaon Hotel - went to Abdullah Al Mahmud, a government serviceholder. All of them are residents of Dhaka.
In her brief deliberation, Ms. Mustari said that, as an artiste, she felt one with sport which was also an art form. She thanked the DS and the Bank for organising such an event which can only arouse interest in the game.
Tanveer Haider said that he was indebted to The Daily Star for making him a more informed man. ``I just learnt that 'down under' was Australia only five minutes back,'' quipped the veteran sports organiser, who added that he had earlier in the week been inundated with inquiries about the word by interested quiz fans.
Roquibul Hassan recalled the exploits of his playing days in good humour and narrated why Tanveer Haider became to be known as ``patak Mamu'', which referred to his bouncers (patak in local dialect) as a fast bowler.
Mr. Masrur spoke of continued support of his Bank for such sporting events.
The Editor thanked the Standard Chartered Bank for choosing The Daily Star. He thanked the cricketers who he said were otherwise extremely busy ahead of the Wills International Cup. ``They did mention that they were physically present here but their mind was at the BCB,'', he added. Mr. Anam also spoke highly of Ms. Mustari who, he said, was a good singer even in her days as a university student.