New Delhi: Ashish Chhetri of Sikkim have been selected to represent India in the Asian under-16 championship qualifiers to be played in Damman (Saudi Arabia) from October 27 (Saturday) to November 7. The captain would be chosen later, AIFF sources said.
Placed in group C, India start their campaign on Saturday against Sri Lanka, followed by matches against Iraq (October 30), Lebanon (November 1), Saudi Arabia (November 4) and Bhutan (November 7).
Pitted against mighty opponents, India don’t seem to have much of a chance, but the coaches are still hopeful.
“Two teams will qualify from each group,” said Sanjay Sen, one of the coaches assisting technical director Collin Toal. “We should be able to beat either Iraq or Saudi Arabia before we can think of making the final round.”
THE SQUAD — Goalkeepers: Gurpreet Singh (Chandigarh), Harshad Meher (Maharashtra) and Prseley Menezes (Goa). Defenders: Tanmoy Ghosh (Bengal), Ashish Chetri (Sikkim), Bikash Gulia (Haryana), Vishal Kumar (Karnataka), Deepak Debrani (Delhi) and Ajit Bhoir (Maharashtra), Ashpreet Singh (Chandigarh). Midfielders: Bijendra Rai (Sikkim), Lalrimdika (Bengal), Milan Singh (Jharkhand), Akshay Mall (Gujarat), Shilton D’Silva (Maharashtra), Bikramjit Singh (Chandigarh), Tirthankar Sarkar (Bengal) and Subhojit Majumdar (Bengal). Forwards: Manandeep Singh (Haryana), Malswamfela (Mizoram), Prem Kumar (Punjab), Vivek Kumar (Haryana) and Abhishek Das (Jharkhand).
Sikkim Served Fresh Daily
