Facing lot of problems preparing the grounds due to continuous rain over the past one week, Assam is set to host Junior (U-17) Women’s National Football Championship (NFC) starting Saturday across five venues in and around Guwahati.
The venues are Indira Gandhi Athletic Stadium (IGAS), SAI New Field at Paltan Bazar, Nehru Stadium, LNIPE at Sonapur and Dimakuchi Stadium in Udalguri district. The tournament will culminate with the final set to be held at IGAS in Guwahati on July 4.
Initially Assam Football Association (AFA) had planned to host the inaugural ceremony either at Nehru Stadium or SAI Sports Complex but persistent rain has kept AFA on their toes and the association is keeping alternate venues ready if need be. However, with most of the participating teams already arriving in Guwahati there’s no possibility of rescheduling the tournament.
The 34 teams have been divided into eight groups, with Group C and F having five teams each, while other six have four each. There will be round robin league in each group with the group toppers making the knockout stage for the quarterfinals.
Hosts Assam have been clubbed in group G with Haryana, Puducherry and Gujarat and begin their campaign at Dimakuchi on Tuesday. All the matches will be played during the day at 9:00 am and 1:00pm while the matches at Dimakuchi will be played under floodlights.
AFA selected the 20-member squad led by Trisharani Gogoi at a selection camp held at Dimakuchi.
The other team members are Mampi Sonowal, Rashmi Ray, Mouchumi Brahma (vice-captain), Purnima Regon, Sayonika Sonowal, Sonam Dalma Lama, Juli Chenglai, Rajashree Sonowal, Raimali Boro, Hirina Basumatary, Sumi Das, Udanshree Narzary, Ankita Mech, Sabita Rabha, Mina Kachari, Janmoni Panging, Anjuli Brahma, Suman Dutta and Mainao Basumatary. The team will be coached by Losan Saikia with Royal Basumatary being the assistant coach.
The Groups: A: Manipur, Uttarakhand, Jharkhand and Andhra Pradesh; B: Mizoram, Uttar Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Karnataka; C: Telangana, Bihar, Meghalaya, Delhi and Madhya Pradesh; D: Arunachal Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Sikkim and Goa; E: Nagaland, Ladakh, Punjab and Kerala; F: Tripura, Chandigarh, Odisha, Maharashtra and Dadra & Nagar Haveli; G: Assam, Haryana, Puducherry and Gujarat; H: Jammu & Kashmir, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu and Rajasthan.
Today’s matches: At SAI New Field (Paltan Bazar): Group C: Telangana vs Delhi, Bihar vs Meghalaya; At LNIPE (Sonapur): Group F: Tripura vs Maharashtra, Chandigarh vs Odisha.
