Bengaluru: 37 high schools from all over the country will vie for the championship title of the 62 Subroto Cup International Football Tournament, which will kick off at Bengaluru on Sunday. The Sub-Junior (U 14) Boys category of the 62nd edition of the Subroto Cup International Football Tournament Defending Champions Heroik Higher Secondary School Imphal Manipur will face several challengers like H.K Singh Memorial Secondary School, West Jaintia Hills, Jowai, Meghalaya, who is cited to be one of the favourites
This is the first time in 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 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, and the winners of each group will qualify for the quarterfinals.
The first match of the category will be a Group A encounter between H.K 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. That match will be followed by a Group B match between Chawngfianga Middle School, Saiden, Kulasib, Mizoram and Ramakrishna Mission VivekanandVidyapeeth, 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, S.S. +2 Higher School, Simdega, Jharkhand, will meet The Air Force School, New Delhi, at 3 PM.
The group matches will continue till 6th of October, and the qualified teams will play the quarterfinals on the 7th of October. The semi-finals are scheduled for the 8th of October while the finals will be played on 10th October.