Bengaluru, Sep 30 (IANS): The Sub-Junior (U 14) Boys category of the 62nd edition of the Subroto Cup International Football Tournament, will kick-start on October 1, here.
This is the first time in the history, that the national championships of the most prestigious inter school football tournament of the country is being played outside the national capital. It has been the longstanding desire for the Subroto Mukherjee Sports Education Society (SMSES) to spread the reach of this iconic tournament to more corners of the country and the Sub-Junior boys tournament in the Garden City is a start to the initiative.
The group stage matches will be played at the Air Force School, Jalahalli, Air Force School, Yelahanka and Air Force Training Command. All the knockout matches will be played at the Army Service Corps (ASC) Centre. The group stage matches will see 37 teams, including a team from Bangladesh competing for the coveted title. They are divided into eight groups, in which the winners of each group will qualify for the quarterfinals.
The first match of the category will be a Group A encounter between HK Singh Memorial Secondary School, West Jaintia Hills, Jowai, Meghalaya and Sainik School, Tilaiya, Koderma, Jharkhand, who are representing the Sainik Schools which will be played at Air Force School, Jalahalli 7 AM (IST). That much will be followed by a Group B match between Chawngfianga Middle School, Saiden, Kulasib, Mizoram and Ramkrishna Mission Vivekanand Vidyapeeth, Narayanpur, Chattisgarh at 8:30 AM.
In the other Group B match at 10 AM, Primary Marathi School, Kauncha, Chikhalipada, Silvassa, DD & D&NH will face Manikpara High School, Jhargram, West Bengal. In the last match of the day, SS +2 Higher School, Simdega, Jharkhand will meet The Air Force School, New Delhi at 3 PM.
The group matches will continue till October 6 and the qualified teams will play the quarterfinals on October 7. The semi-finals are scheduled for October 8 while the finals will be played on October 10.
Heirok Higher Secondary School, Imphal, Manipur are the defending champions of the Sub-Junior (U 14) Boys category.