Bangladesh surfers chase Asian Games dreams amid poverty and stigma

The headquarters of the Bangladesh Surf Girls and Boys Club is a weather-beaten white shack but, like the seemingly endless beach on which it sits, its members’ ambitions stretch far.

For Mohammad Mannan, 25, and Fatima Akhter, 16, their thoughts are fixed on the coming surfing competition at the Asian Games, to be held in Japan from September 19 to October 4.

The surfers from Cox’s Bazar – one of the world’s longest beaches that stretches for 120 kilometres (75 miles) along the Bay of Bengal – are hoping to carve out a place for the sport in a country obsessed with cricket and football.

“The moment I step onto the board, I forget everything else,” said Akhter, who has had to overcome intense stigma in the Muslim-majority nation to succeed as a teenage girl riding her board.

“When I successfully ride a wave, I feel happy and fulfilled,” she said.

“The feeling is impossible to describe.”

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