The Hindu : Sport / Football : S. Zone meet from today

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, May 29, 2005

Sport

Sport - Football

S. Zone meet from today

Sports Reporter

TIRUCHI: Former International Aslam Khan (45) still values and cherishes his playing days. Belonging to an era when football players were respected, given more than adequate salary, enjoyed hysterical fan support, Khan, a doughty defender, competed when football was at his very best.

Now at a time when football (at all levels in India) is at an all-time low, Khan, coach of the Karnataka team, is preparing his boys for the six-day South Zone phase of the National under-21 football championship which begins at St. Joseph's College HSS here on Sunday.

On current form and history, Karnataka along with Kerala will be the teams vying to take the lone qualifying spot for the Nationals. Pondicherry and Andhra Pradesh, though, cannot be ruled out and are perfectly capable of springing surprises. Temperatures, touching 40 degree Celsius, could play a vital part. All the teams, except Andhra Pradesh, have reached the temple town.

The four teams will play each other on a round-robin basis and the team that garners the most number of points will take part in the National championship beginning on June 7 in Tiruchi. The South Zone qualifying tournament concludes on June 5.

Host Tamil Nadu, defending champion Punjab and runner-up Bengal will join the winners of all the five zones (East, West, North, South and North-East) for the final round. Meanwhile, Match Commissioner S.S. Shetty said that he would not be officiating in the final round due to prior commitments.

The fixtures: May 29: Kar v Pon; May 30: Ker v AP; June 1: Kar v AP; June 2: Ker v Pon; June 4: Pon v AP; June 5: Kar v Ker.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Sport