The All Manipur Football Association has flagged off a 26-member team for the Junior Boys' National Football Championship for Dr BC Roy Trophy (Tier-2) 2023-24 to be held at Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh from September 24 to October 8.
Twenty-one teams are participating in the championship and Manipur is in Group A along with Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh and Ladakh. The league rounds will be completed on October 3 and the semi-finals will begin from October 6 and the final match is scheduled on October 8.
The Manipur squad comprises Achouba Huidrom, Kh. Amarjit Singh, Mohd. Jayet, Th. Chinglemba Meetei, L. Suraj Singh, Singamayum Sajaan Khan, Banayamin, Samuel Salam, Y. Bishorjit Singh, S. Dhakeshwor Singh, I. Any Singh, Kh. Srinibash, Lekhachandra Ph, Th. Majaibungo Singh, O. Tomson Singh, Ranendrajit Yumnam, Ng. Dhakeshwor Meitei, Thuinganing Awungshi, Yokmipam Awungchihui, Mashunggam Chiphang, K. Genius and S. Sadananda Singh among the playing twenty-two members.
The support staff are Thangjam Boyai Singh as Manager, Chingakham Ojit Singh as Coach, Naorem Vikram Singh as Physio and Elangbam Robertson as Official. The team departed from Imphal International Airport, Malom Tulihal Monday afternoon.
Before the team’s departure, Coach Ojit Singh said, “We feel that the team will definitely do well and perform to our satisfaction in the tournament. We have started our training schedule from June 22 and it is our firm belief that we can get to the final and hopefully bring the trophy to Manipur”.
In the meantime, 22 members of Junior Girls left Imphal on Sunday for Bhubaneswar for participation in the Hero Junior Girls' National Championship (Tier-1) 2023-24 to be played at Bhubaneshwar, Odisha from September 20-30. Manipur is placed in Group B along with Haryana, Delhi and Maharashtra.
