Women's World Cup too... is underway...

Tico is a colloquial term for a native of Costa Rica. Costa Ricans are usually called ticos –  the feminine is tica and plural is ‘ticos; ticas’…….Costa Rica (meaning "rich coast" in Spanish), is  a country in Central America, bordered by Nicaragua, Panama, Pacific Ocean and Caribbean Sea.  It is in news ….but before that something on our neighbour…

Sylhet, also known as Jalalabad; is one of the richest cities of Bangladesh. It is the principal city and administrative capital of Sylhet Division. The city is located on the banks of Surma River in the Surma Valley.  Every year, Sylhet receives hundreds and thousands of pilgrims to the Dargahs of Shah Jalal and Shah Paran. Sylhet is also famed for its natural setting, amidst rainforests, waterfalls, hills and river valleys. Sylhet is a hub of the tea but derives more money from its people who have emigrated abroad over the years, especially to Britain.  Sylhet is also a center of the Bangladeshi oil and gas sector, with the country’s largest natural gas reserves located in Sylhet Division.

Not many are watching or following -  the T20 World Cup for women concurrently being held at Bangladesh alongside the Men’s version.  In a recent match, India chasing 129 set by Srilankan women made 106/9, losing the match by 22 runs.  The ICC Women's World Twenty20 for women runs parallel to the men's ICC World Twenty20. The event  organized by International Cricket Council has eight teams, the top six teams of the ICC Women's T20 rankings and the rest two determined by a qualification process. The tournament was first held in 2009, when hosts England won the tournament; followed by West Indies hosting the event in 2010, and Sri Lanka in 2012.  The 2014 version is held in Bangladesh and in 2016, it would happen in India. 

Mithali Raj  tosses - Sasikala Siriwardene and David Boon looks on 

Not many would know that the Women’s World Cup (ODI format) was first held in 1973 in England, a good two years before the inaugural Men’s Prudential World Cup, won by Clive Lloyd’s West Indies.  In the first version of Women  Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago and Young England  appeared.  The most recent tournament, the 2013 Women's Cricket World Cup, was held in India and in the finals, Australia beat West Indies by 114 runs at the Brabourne Stadium.

Away in Costa Rica, the 2014 FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup, the 4th edition of the youth association football tournament for women under the age of 17 is underway.  The tourney was to conclude on 4th Apr 2014 but has been re-scheduled a day in advance due to government elections there.   The first round of the 2014 Under-17 Women’s World Cup concluded  recently ~ the host country will not be marching on after Italy eliminated the Ticas last Tuesday. The eight remaining teams will battle for a spot in the semifinals  - those in fray are : Canada, Venezuela; Italy, Ghana; Mexico, Japan; Spain, Nigeria. 

With regards – S. Sampathkumar.

26th Mar 2014.