Shahjalal wins 114th title of Jabbarer Boli Khela
Mohammad Shahjalal Boli, a resident of Cumilla's Homna upazila, has won the 114th title of Jabbarer Boli Khela held in Laldighi Maidan in Chattogram.
He became champion by defeating Tarikul Islam Jibon Boli from Chakaria upazila of Cox's Bazar on Tuesday.
Last year, Jibon was the champion and Shahjalal was the runner-up of the tournament.
After winning the title, Shahjalal said, "I express my gratitude to everyone. I played last year too. This year I got the result of a lot of hard work."
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Sixty people of different ages – from teenagers to 70-year-olds – participated in this year's tournament.
Chattogram City Corporation Mayor Rezaul Karim Chowdhury was the chief guest at the opening ceremony of the tournament inaugurated by Chattogram Metropolitan Police Commissioner Krishna Pada Roy.
In the first semi-final, defending champion Jibon defeated Srijan Chakma from Khagrachari in 11.36 minutes of fight.
In the second semi-final, Shahjalal defeated Abdun Noor from Anwara upazila of Chattogram. The fight between the two lasted only 1.26 minutes.
In the final match, Jibon fought against Shahjalal for about 2.5 minutes. At one point of the match, Jibon, exhausted from the semifinal, forfeited the game and the referee declared Shahjalal champion.
Abdul Jabbar, a resident of Badarpati area of Chattogram, started the Boli Khela tournament in 1909 to physically prepare the country's youth to fight in the anti-British movement. After continuing for over a hundred years, the game has become one of the greatest traditional folk festivals of the country.
