Rupna Chakma (; ) is a Bangladeshi football player who plays for the Bangladesh women's national football team and Bashundhara Kings Women. She was part of the Bangladesh team that won the

2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

and 2024 SAFF Women's Championship and was named "The best goalkeeper" in both of those tournament. Chakma played in the under-16 team in 2019.

Early life

Rupana was born in the village of Bhuiyodam, located in the Ghilachari hills of Naniarchar Upazila, Rangamati,

Bangladesh Bangladesh, officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, eighth-most populous country in the world and among the List of countries and dependencies by ...

. Her father, Gatha Moni Chakma, passed away before her birth. Her mother, Kalosona Chakma, raised Rupana and her three siblings, earning a livelihood as a day laborer in agricultural fields.

Career

Rupana’s schoolteacher, Virsen Chakma, recognized her enthusiasm for football and encouraged her to engage in training. There were initial concerns about the societal perceptions of girls participating in sports. Rupana's skills were showcased during a local upazila-level tournament. She subsequently enrolled at Ghagra Primary School, where she trained as a goalkeeper under the guidance of coach Shanti Moni Chakma. In 2014, she took part in the Bangamata Sheikh Fazilatunnesa Mujib National Gold Cup Football Tournament, where she was honored with the Best Goalkeeper award. In 2020, Rupana joined Bashundhara Kings, competing at the national league level.

Honours

Bashundhara Kings * Bangladesh Women's Football League: 2020–21, 2021–22 Bangladesh * SAFF Women's Championship:

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Bangladesh U20 * SAFF U-20 Women's Championship:

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

2021 Like the year 2020, 2021 was also heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the emergence of multiple Variants of SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 variants. The major global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, which began at the end of 2020, continued ...

* Bangamata U-19 Women's Gold Cup:

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

Individual * SAFF Women's Championship Best Goalkeeper: 2022, 2024

International career

In 2018, she joined the Under-19 Women’s Team and helped Bangladesh win the 2021 SAFF Championship by defeating India in the final. In the 2022 SAFF Women’s Football Tournament, Rupana performed excellently as the goalkeeper, not conceding any goals in the group matches. During the final against

Nepal Nepal, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is mainly situated in the Himalayas, but also includes parts of the Indo-Gangetic Plain. It borders the Tibet Autonomous Region of China Ch ...

, her critical saves helped Bangladesh win 3-1, and the team became SAFF champions.

Personal life

Rupana’s achievements brought attention to her family’s struggles. After 2022 SAFF Women’s Football Tournament, the Deputy Commissioner of Rangamati visited Rupana’s home and provided financial support. Media coverage of her story caught the attention of former Prime Minister

Sheikh Hasina Sheikh Hasina (''née'' Wazed; born 28 September 1947) is a Bangladeshi politician who served as the tenth prime minister of Bangladesh from June 1996 to July 2001 and again from January 2009 to August 2024. Premiership of Sheikh Hasina, Her ...

, who ordered that a new house be built for Rupana’s family.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chakma, Rupna Living people Bangladeshi women's footballers 21st-century Bangladeshi sportswomen Bangladesh women's international footballers Bashundhara Kings players Bangladesh Women's Football League players Chakma people Bangladeshi Buddhists Women's association football midfielders People from Khagrachhari District Bangladeshi women's futsal players 2004 births Footballers from Chittagong Division