Abahani Krira Chakra were off to a sound start in the Bangabandhu Cup interna-tional football tournament, defeating Malaysia Blue 2-1 in the inaugural match at the floodlit Dhaka Stadium yesterday.

The local giant led the first-half by two goals to nil with striker Sourav Raju and Tipu notching one apiece in quick succession. For the visitors, custodian Arman Dinar pulled one goal back 14 minutes Into the second-half converting a penalty.

In the 13-team invitational tourney. Abahani. who have been placed in group A. with this victory held out hopes for a semifinal berth. Top finishers from four groups will qualify for the last four.

Today's matches

East Bengal Club (India) will take on Friends Club (Nepal) today at 4 p.m. at the National Stadium while Bargh Shiraj (Iran) will face Eastern All Star (Thailand) at 6 pm at the same venue.