Manipur to fight Punjab in first match of quarter final round on February 23
Source: Hueiyen News Service
Imphal, February 20 2013:
In the quarter final stage of the 67th National Football Championship for Santosh Trophy, Manipur will fight Punjab, Karnataka and 31-times champion West Bengal in Group D at Kollam, Kerala from February 23 .
The Sixteen teams for the quarterfinal round for the ongoing 67th Santosh Trophy have been finalised.
The quarterfinal rounds would be played simultaneously in Kollam and Kochi respectively.
The round have been divided into four Groups and the winner of each Group would advance to the semifinals, both of which are scheduled to be played in Kochi on February 28 and March 1 respectively.
Meanwhile, Manipur who had won the championship only once had left for Kerala on February 15.In its first quarter final match, Manipur will fight Punjab on February 23 .
Manipur will fight Karnataka on February 25 in the second match while they will play the third quarter final round match on February 27 against 31-time champion West Bengal.
In previous editions, Manipur was represented by players from the state who play in various I-league clubs.
However, this time, AMFA is sending an all-Manipur team with players selected from different clubs of the state.
The state team also underwent rigorous training under the AMFA coach Moirangthem Ratan at the newly laid artificial turf.
Defending Champions Services who were seeded directly into the quarterfinal round have been clubbed with Railways, Madhya Pradesh and Orissa in Group A.Services play their first match against Railways on February 23 in Kochi.
Meanwhile, 31-time Champions West Bengal, who qualified as the second team from the Qualifiers will play their Group D matches in Kollam.
Punjab, Karnataka and Manipur are the other three teams in the Group.
Group B consists of runners-up Tamil Nadu, four-time crowners Goa along with Maharashtra and Jharkhand.
Tamil Nadu play their first match on February 22 against Goa in Kollam.
The other Group (Group C) will see Jammu and Kashmir, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and hosts Kerala battle for a semifinal spot, in Kochi.
The final is scheduled to be played on March 3 at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Kochi.
The Squad:
Goalkeeper: M Raj (NEROCA), S Dinakumar (USA) & K Anand (TRAU) .
Defender: M Meino (TRAU), Daniel (ZFC), T Raju (SSU), L Chandramani (TRAU), S Herojit (KLASA) & Md Sohail Shah (NEROCA) .
Mid Fielder: Md Imran Khan (SSU), L Bikram (TRAU), Cleaven Hmar (ZFC), N Sushil (NEROCA), O Pitler (NISA), H Chakravorti (NEROCA) & S Surchand (TRAU) .
Forward: Md Sahidur Rehman (SSU), Y Jugeshor (KENKRE CLUB), Th Premkumar (TRAU) & F LALZARZO (USA) .